Just started reactor #2 tonight with 22.75 gallons of oil and a 110V heating element.
Whereas the 220V element I could hear the oil being warmed, I'm not certain if the new 110V element is working. My electrical tester shows that voltage is being applied to the element, but I'm not hearing any warming going on.
Does anyone currently use a 110V element, and can you provide some personal experience in using said element?
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The Green Monster: 2001 F250 Powerstroke, 2WD, ZF6 transmission. Bully Dog GT Tuner set in tow mode. MotorSilk boric oxide added to engine, transmission and diff. Showing 30mpg on the freeway running home brew biodiesel. NTZ 1/2 Micron bypass oil filter. Dieselsite Coolant filter and Caterpillar ELC next on the list. 4" open turbo back exhaust.
I'm watching & learning , but as a plumber, the 220 vt is much quicker & usually hear hissing. The 110vt I rarely hear. I've also have hooked up 110vt to a 220vt element, it will heat, but takes much,much longer. I cant remember amp draw #s. (my .02)
Hooking up a heating element to 240 Volts will result in quadruple the power dissipation as hooking it up to 120 Volts.
The specific heat of water is about 4.2 Joules per gram-Kelvin, and oil is about half that.
A typical heating element will deliver about 1100 Watts (1100 Joules per second) when running on 120 Volts.
You have about 70 kg of oil there. If all 1100 Watts went into the oil, I'd expect it to come up at about 1°C every two minutes or so. Since some of the heat will be lost, it actually be slower than this - three or four hours to come up to temperature.
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Douglas Campbell, P.E.
1986 Isuzu P'up, 177,673.8 miles.
- Hella headlights (highly recommended)
- DOT C-2 back end (also recommended)
- R-12 air conditioner converted to R-406a. Saved ozone and money
- 4.1:1 final drive converted to 3.4:1. Quieter, better mileage but it's a good thing I live in the flat Midwest.
- 9/22/2007, age 21: Still running well when reluctantly sent away for reincarnation, due to body & frame rust.
Last edited by drcampbell; 02-25-2011 at 10:29 PM.
Ok. This is a 110V 4500W element. I do realize that if I were to put 110V to a 220V element I would get 1/4 the heat output.
So I would also assume that the heating will take longer and be less vigorous?
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The Green Monster: 2001 F250 Powerstroke, 2WD, ZF6 transmission. Bully Dog GT Tuner set in tow mode. MotorSilk boric oxide added to engine, transmission and diff. Showing 30mpg on the freeway running home brew biodiesel. NTZ 1/2 Micron bypass oil filter. Dieselsite Coolant filter and Caterpillar ELC next on the list. 4" open turbo back exhaust.
No, it's not. A 110-Volt, 4500-Watt device would draw 41 Amps and require, per code, a 50-Amp circuit and 6-gauge copper wire. 50-Amp 120-Volt service is rare, to put it lightly.
More likely, it's a 4500-Watt, 240-Volt element, designed to draw 19 Amps and be used on a 30-Amp, 240-Volt circuit. If you're running it on 110 Volts, it becomes a 945-Watt heater. If you're running it on 120 Volts, it becomes a 1125-Watt heater.
The calculations above were based on 1100 Watts.
__________________
-
Douglas Campbell, P.E.
1986 Isuzu P'up, 177,673.8 miles.
- Hella headlights (highly recommended)
- DOT C-2 back end (also recommended)
- R-12 air conditioner converted to R-406a. Saved ozone and money
- 4.1:1 final drive converted to 3.4:1. Quieter, better mileage but it's a good thing I live in the flat Midwest.
- 9/22/2007, age 21: Still running well when reluctantly sent away for reincarnation, due to body & frame rust.
Ah yes, my mistake. It's volts times current to determine wattage, yes?
__________________
The Green Monster: 2001 F250 Powerstroke, 2WD, ZF6 transmission. Bully Dog GT Tuner set in tow mode. MotorSilk boric oxide added to engine, transmission and diff. Showing 30mpg on the freeway running home brew biodiesel. NTZ 1/2 Micron bypass oil filter. Dieselsite Coolant filter and Caterpillar ELC next on the list. 4" open turbo back exhaust.
[ QUOTE ]
Ah yes, my mistake. It's volts times current to determine wattage, yes?
[/ QUOTE ]
Yes, that's right.
Voltage is a measurement of how much energy is contained in each electron.
Current is a measurement of how many electrons are circulating per second.
Power is Current times Voltage.
Think of electrons as wee little dump trucks. How big a load each one is carrying, multiplied by the number of loads dumped each second, is the total effect.
__________________
-
Douglas Campbell, P.E.
1986 Isuzu P'up, 177,673.8 miles.
- Hella headlights (highly recommended)
- DOT C-2 back end (also recommended)
- R-12 air conditioner converted to R-406a. Saved ozone and money
- 4.1:1 final drive converted to 3.4:1. Quieter, better mileage but it's a good thing I live in the flat Midwest.
- 9/22/2007, age 21: Still running well when reluctantly sent away for reincarnation, due to body & frame rust.
Dont know all that much about electrical calculations...i currently am using a 110 element heating 72 liters in a plastic tank...starting at 60 degree temp going to 130 degrees...takes about 1 hour....i did add insulation on the tank and on the pipes....i didnt think that was too bad for now...the next processor in the works will be bigger and probably use a hot water heater though
Well it took an hour as described but the temp went to 130 and held there for the first batch of biodiesel made in reactor #2.
I'm going to have to bring a book to read while that thing warms up. Running the circulation pump only seems to slow the process through circulation of the warmed oil through the cool pipes.
I think that some sort of insulation on the plumbing will be in order.
__________________
The Green Monster: 2001 F250 Powerstroke, 2WD, ZF6 transmission. Bully Dog GT Tuner set in tow mode. MotorSilk boric oxide added to engine, transmission and diff. Showing 30mpg on the freeway running home brew biodiesel. NTZ 1/2 Micron bypass oil filter. Dieselsite Coolant filter and Caterpillar ELC next on the list. 4" open turbo back exhaust.
Yeah I know. I was using 220V on reactor #1. But, since I'm going to lose my workspace here at the end of the month, I have to runn 110V power for the portable reactor #2.
Reactor #1 has been 'decommisioned' and will be taken to the dump if I don't find anyone local here that will use it for another biodiesel reactor.
BTW, last night's batch came out perfectly despite a flub on my getting a little rain water in the oil prior to processing.
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The Green Monster: 2001 F250 Powerstroke, 2WD, ZF6 transmission. Bully Dog GT Tuner set in tow mode. MotorSilk boric oxide added to engine, transmission and diff. Showing 30mpg on the freeway running home brew biodiesel. NTZ 1/2 Micron bypass oil filter. Dieselsite Coolant filter and Caterpillar ELC next on the list. 4" open turbo back exhaust.
I have one 66 gallon water heater if you want it, free for the taking.
PM me for an email address.
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The Green Monster: 2001 F250 Powerstroke, 2WD, ZF6 transmission. Bully Dog GT Tuner set in tow mode. MotorSilk boric oxide added to engine, transmission and diff. Showing 30mpg on the freeway running home brew biodiesel. NTZ 1/2 Micron bypass oil filter. Dieselsite Coolant filter and Caterpillar ELC next on the list. 4" open turbo back exhaust.
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