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[hdserv]

I am about to make a condenser for my boat due to space a horizontal would be better than a vertical one
would there be a problem with a horizontal condenser
Jim

[Aeronut4]

Hi Jim, what I think you're describing isn't strictly a condensor as such, but an oil separator - it's designed to catch the oil in the exhausted steam, yet allow the steam to escape.  Unless you have a very complex steam plant, you don't really want to be condensing the water at all, though you will get some in there.  To answer your question, oil separators come in all shapes and sizes and mostly made to suit the specific installation - horizontal or vertical, they all work if you get the pipes in the right places.

[hdserv]

thanks for reply did mean oil separator

[flashtwo]

Hi,
I built a combined oil separator and feed heater for my flash boiler boat.

The flash boiler requires continuous feed, supplied by an electric pump, which passes through the oil separator/feed heater and raised from about 10degC to 95degC before entering the boiler.

The device is vertical, since this gives the maximum oil separation. The oil free water is syphoned from the lowest part of the separator and dumped overboard. The feed heater part is a copper coil with about 50 sq.inches of area.

The device has been very effective by not letting a drop of oil onto the lake. It also enables extended running without having to keep returning to shore and decanting the condensate/oil collector that I had installed previously.

I have noticed that on some boats, which exhaust  their condensate/oil through the stack, that they leave a trail of oil spots on the lake.
See attached photos.

Ian

[derekwarner]

Hi flashtwo.....I am not sure I understand why.... "It also enables extended running without having to keep returning to shore and decanting the condensate/oil collector that I had installed previousl"

If you were needing to ...return to decant water & oil 'within short time periods' something is amis..........[& I acknowledge I have little knowledge of steam beyond 150 degrees C]

1....what is your steam oil comsumption per time unit?...
2....if you are producing condensate at an unacceptable level   what steam temperature are you running?
3....what Grade of steam oil are you using?

I have last weekend relagged my ACSVB2 boiler, gas tank & condenser de..olier & hope I will get 50 minutes of steaming time = 50 minutes of gas time + 50 minutes without a condenser de..olier empty out   ..Derek

[sydbalsbaugh]

Decoy-what are you using for the (I assume high temperature) black finish on your very professional looking boiler and accessories?

[flashtwo]

Hi Derek,

It was the condensate that was filling up the container, rather than the oil component.

The feed flow was in the order of 70cc/min (Stuart D10 at 500RPM) and the container had a capacity of about 640cc. The steam was just above the saturation temperature, so the exhaust was pretty wet anyway. So about half the water must have been evaporated in order to fill up the unlagged condensate tank in 20 minutes.

With new piston "o"-rings fitted the steam/water consumption was less, but the above figures were typical of a run.

I'm using Morris's Compound Steam Cylinder Oil 460.

Ian. 

[derekwarner]

sydbalsbaugh ...the gloss nlack is from the VHT brand of aersol spray enamels....it has the advantage of able to be baked in an oven after spraying to increase chemical resistance [actual increase in hardness] & it works...as you can polish the brass without removing tell tale paint    

flashtwo....just wondering....if you lagged your de-oiler you may maintain a higher % of de-oiled steam as exhaust...rather than condense it .......& looking back at you images....the cool feed water coil inside the de-oiler is contributing  to the steam condensing........Derek

[flashtwo]

Hi Derek,

Yes, I was wondering whether to lag the oil separator or not. Since the new one dumps the clean condensate overboard, it is not now so important to encourage the vapour to go up the vent.

I suppose if the feed heating part of the device was hotter, due to lagging, then the feed temperature would be a few degrees higher, though I doubt if there would be any noticible efficiency improvement.

Ian.