Hello Rick My name is Frank. I've been admiring the progress of your engine, and I have nearly completed an engine which has a heater nearly identical to...
Hi Frank, Good question. I'm not an expert in burners, but no one else has replied yet, so I'll make some comments. This may be obvious, but in general,...
Hi MP That's a lot of interesting info, and I will certainly study your ideas and references. I'll let you know when I settle on a solution which is within my...
MP, Heat pipes are very difficult to work with and VERY dangerous due to the chemicals and temperatures involved in the heat transfer. There is quite a bit out...
Hello, I began some preliminary tests with a off-the-shelf catalytic space heater yesterday. I put a coffee can with the ends cut out over the tubes and put...
Hi Rick Looks like you are on to something! I think I might try the same thing Thanks Frank ... [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]...
Rick, Are the tubes open into the displacer volume? Or in other words, are they dead space? If so, I wonder how much dead space can be traded for increased...
James, The tubes are factored as dead-space, but carefully balanced for pressure, flow loss, volume, and surface area. I used the Gas Circuit Scaling...
Hi Frank, Here is a link to the exact model heater I used. http://www.mrheater.com/productdetails_extended.asp?catid=42&id=22 I removed the grill wire. I...
... Yes, the recouperator preheats air which improves combustion efficiency and reduces pollution; it also reduces the exhaust temperature which improves...
John (I think his handle is imotorhead) has posted pictures of a recuperative burner that he has made. It would be worthwhile i think to seek him out and get...
Hi Rick I purchased a model MH12T catalytic heater from Mr Heater and removed the grill just as you have done. I set the heater head right against the tops of...
Frank, That's great. I am having similar good luck. I found a stainless dry goods canister that just fit over my tube array. I cut a hole in the bottom...
If you need a graphics program to illustrate your work consider Inkacape! A recent release of Inkscape 0.45 is available now. This is an open source drawing...
sesusa, I like the the catalytic heater concept because it limits the max temp, reduces NOx emissions, and possibly may even improve heat transfer efficiency....
Would someone please stick a thermocouple on your heater head and measure the temp of the tubes. That would be very useful data for the process. We are...
One could probably estimate the external heater temperature to within 100 deg.C by observing the color of the incandescent light. Here's a table I found: ...
MP, It is interesting to note that aluminum does not change color to the human eye as it is heated. Similarly, it would depend upon the material for the hot...
MP, It is interesting to note that aluminum does not change color to the human eye as it is heated. Similarly, it would depend upon the material for the hot...
The heaters are SS, and a few messages back it was reported that they glow red. All materials exhibit incandscance. Al melts before it gets red hot. MP...
Mike, Stainless does go through the colors, but the scale is different. I don't have a thermocouple probe handy but I think we can make a good estimation from...
... My engine heater is almost exactly like the photo that Rick published some time ago, and my experience is like Rick's. My tubes glow a bright red at the...
Aluminum melts at about 660C/1220F. Iron is showing Red Heat in dark at 400C and glows brightly in sunlight at 531C. Both of these temps are well below the...
Rick and Arch, Yes, I suppose the color temperature would vary somewhat with the emission spectrum of the material. It's technically called "gray body"...
Lee, Okay, I stand corrected, I shouldn't have compared Aluminum with SS. Aluminum is a funky metal that has low absorption, an unusually low emissivity, and a...
Frank, list, I am not at all disappointed in the basic operation of the cat heater, but I agree that coverage could be better if your tubes are long. The...
... My engine is the 2nd one I have built, and is in the early stages of testing Configuration: Gamma with Ross linkage, un-pressurized. Power piston...
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