Veggie Oil Stove Solves Clogging Problem

Veggie Oil Stove Solves Clogging Problem ENERGY Alternative Fuels 34-1-27 Burning used vegetable oil can be challenging due to BCB's (burnt crispy bits) but Tom Leue believes he has developed a burner that works efficiently without clogging. He's been refining the used oil burner design for the past nine years, and uses one to heat his 30 by 40-ft. shop with 12-ft. walls in Williamsburg, Mass. "I've always felt used vegetable oil is an underused resource," Leue says. "It's kind of a difficult fuel to use, though, because it's wet (water is often added) and dirty. Filtering can be difficult." Leue's breakthrough came when he learned about Babington technology, which is used by the Army and is supposed to be uncloggable. He incorporated it into his heater. To burn used oil, Leue first pours it through a stainless steel screen into a barrel, catching the "BCB's". "I feed them to my chickens," Leue says. Water settles to the bottom. A German floating draw-off device pulls the cleanest oil off the top and dribbles the oil onto the outside of the Babington ball, which has tiny laser-drilled holes and small air jets that create a shearing action to mist the oil to burn. Some of the oil falls back into the fuel tank and recirculates. "Our furnace is better than most others because of the seven-tube heat exchanger. It's almost smokeless and smells like fast-food cooking - like lunch is ready," says Leue. For maintenance he recommends daily brushing carbon residue off the electrodes that provide spark to the Babington ball. It only takes a few seconds, he says. The burner should also be thoroughly cleaned once a year. With only small motors and a 100-watt compressor, his "Yellow Heat" burner only requires about 200 watts of electricity to operate. Two solar panels could run it easily. Leue sells the burner and oil handling system for $1,500 for customers who want to retrofit it to their furnaces. He sells the whole system for $2,500. It includes a doubled-wall barrel stove and has all the necessary safety features such as automatic fire sensors, flare fittings, etc. In a free downloadable manual on his website, Leue offers complete instructions for setting up the burner and connecting to a chimney. "I intend these to be used in shops, greenhouses, barns and commercial spaces," Leue says. Waste oil burners are not eligible for a UL rating to be used for residential heating. Besides vegetable oil, used motor oil works well in the Yellow Heat burner, but Leue is hopeful his burner will help make use of the 350 million gallons of vegetable oil that is thrown out or exported from the U.S. every year. He uses about 25 gal./week to keep his shop toasty warm. Since restaurants average 10 gal. of waste vegetable oil per week he only needs three restaurants to supply his needs. Most are happy to get rid of it, Leue says. Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Tom Leue, Homestead Inc., 1664 Cape St., Williamsburg, Mass. 01096 (ph 413 628-4533; www.yellowheat.com).

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