Hello,
Thanks to everybody for getting more involved.
I'm just going to go down through the list - laundry list style.
Fuel location
The EV has two tanks onboard - one is already full of #2 heating oil, and is plumbed and has a filter in place. I don't know the status of the second tank. I estimate the capacity to be anywhere between 100 and 200 gallons per tank. I could confirm that number, but it seems irrelevant at this time. Their capacity is "plenty". There are two fuel fills that service these tanks from the outside of the boat and are standard marine diesel fills. An oil truck would have no problems, other than the fact that the fill is on the opposite side of the boat than the dock. An on-dock tank is fine, but fuel would have to be transferred in to the boats in batches rather than a live feed, since flexible tubing would have about a 99% chance of being severed in wind, tides, shifting, etc. As far as temperature goes, the below deck temp in the EV won't ever dip much below 30ºF, so I see no problem with temperature down there.
Radiator "pipes"
I will be pressure testing all of the radiators to at least 100 PSI. They appear to be in decent shape on the inside. The fins are a bit mangled on some of them, but the copper is good.
Boiler size
I really don't know how to rate for a boat like this. The heat loss is bound to be FAR above what any actual living space would be due to the thin walls, thin doors, crappy windows, poor insulation, plus losses through the floor. I would say something at LEAST in the 50,000 BTU / hour range, which is actually not that big of a boiler.
Controls
Most of the critical controls and valves WILL be new parts - New TACO cartridge pump, single or perhaps double zone control for the experimental SVO tank - (see below) digital setback thermostat (mercury on a pitching boat = whacky heat), new expansion tank, air scoop, bleeder, pressure regulator, and of course a brand new pressure relief valve.
Plumbing
Plumbing between radiators and out of the boiler will be done with PEX 3/4" polyethylene tubing - the kind with the oxygen barrier of course. Anybody unfamiliar with PEX might be alarmed that it's plastic, but it is designed to take the heat, and does so very well. This is CROSS LINKED POLYETHYLENE, and hence is incredibly durable. I have deliberately overfired a test system to 230ºF and it does indeed stand up to it's published ratings. I also have all of the expensive installation tools and have run MANY thousands of feet of this stuff and I swear by it. It also will radiate a bit of heat below deck to keep things at least a little warmer down there. I'll get a 300 foot roll of it either somewhere in long island or in Maine when I go up over Labor Day, along with a heap of fittings and crimp rings.
Heating
This is ONLY for a heating system, NOT an engine. There are no engines in the boat, and there never will be any inboard propulsion, EVER. They were BIG diesels, but no more. I'm not sure if we might want to obtain a small indirect fired hot water heater as well, but of course we first need a cold water storage tank or running water from shore, all of which will be problematic in a freeze up scenario. (also, as a nice note, PEX is freeze resistant)
SVO system experiment
I would like to try a second tank system for SVO (straight vegetable oil) - an insulated steel tank - about 100 gal. or so, with a fair amount of copper tubing coiled up in the bottom of it, through which the boiler's 180 degree water would be circulated to keep this oil heated and it's viscosity low so it can be easily atomized in the burner. The lines running to the boiler from the SVO will also be jacketed in PEX. and heated. I will turn the required fittings from brass or stainless steel. I have constructed heat exchangers with this coaxial plumbing technique and it works well. The current idea is that the system will be started and brought up to temp on a standard fuel or B20, or whatever, and then, once the SVO is heated, switch over to 100% SVO. This is essentially what the Greasel Conversions guys do with great success, and it would seem to me that an oil burner is a far less finicky creature than a modern diesel internal combustion engine... which brings me to the next point... I am also familiar with cleaning and maintaining the oil burners. Although I am hopeful that the SVO system will work well and without problems, I do realize that it could cause major headache, so I am fully prepared to inspect and maintain the equipment, and also to write procedures for cold starting and fuel switch-overs. All fuel switch-overs and valves will be done as close to the pump as possible as well, minimizing the amount of standing fuel in lines in the event that something gels up. A check valve on the #2 or B20 tank might also be a good idea to prevent SVO from backflowing during a switch-over. For the future, I would like to propose a fully automated, PIC or other controller managed system with solenoid valves and tank and line temperature sensors, but that will likely come in the spring.
Any feedback on boiler size would be greatly appreciated, along with more information on this supposed problem of B100 thickening up in cold weather. Everything I've ever read has lead me to believe that this is no more of an issue with B100 than it is with regular diesel.
Thank you! I look forward to seeing everybody after labor day!
Andy
Andy,
Well, it sounds like I could learn a thing or two from you about actually putting together and taking apart burners, heating systems, etc, and would love to be there when you are working on the installation. As for sizing the boiler, we should definitely talk about insulation, airsealing, etc, because that's going to make a difference. And if we want to talk about sustainability, a properly insulated/airsealed space is probably the best place to start. And then I can run a Manual J. It'll be a little funky with the water temp and whatnot, but should give us a pretty good idea. We need to take dimensions and look at what the walls are made of...
It sounds to me like we're figuring two on-board tanks - one with #2 or B20, the other with SVO or B100. I don't think there will be any viscosity problems with B20. B100 and SVO, I hear, at least, have similar problems in cold weather. As long as we run a heating loop around the B100/SVO tank we should be fine. As long as we're not heating the tank with electric I'm happy. Actually, speaking of electric, what about co-generation?
http://www.polarpowerinc.com/products/generators/cogenset.htm
http://www.microcogeneration.com
http://www.solartrigeneration.com/
Jeff
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MikeTopper - 22 Aug 2005 : Added headings and did a little formatting
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