vivajones Posted October 8, 2010 Report Share Posted October 8, 2010 What is diesel firing and how does it affect the clay? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marcia Selsor Posted October 8, 2010 Report Share Posted October 8, 2010 I fired with diesel using a modified household burner. Our design was published in the second Studio Potter Magazine, the issue on Alternative fuels. I didn't notice any effect on the clays but the glazes , especially copper reds, were beautiful. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest JBaymore Posted October 8, 2010 Report Share Posted October 8, 2010 Another way of describing "oil" firing. Diesil is just a grade of "oil", like #2 heating oil or kerosene are. Liquid fuel. Its main drawbacks are issues with functional burner design when compared to the simplicity of gas burners. Some grades have a bit of sulphur in them... which can affect glazes negatively.... but most fire work similarly to gas. best, ..............john Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marcia Selsor Posted October 8, 2010 Report Share Posted October 8, 2010 I found the biggest problem with oil was the clinker buildup, carbonized soot turns to rock and can block the flame. By eliminating cold secondary air, this beat the clinker problem! Marcia Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seasoned Warrior Posted October 9, 2010 Report Share Posted October 9, 2010 Dennis Parks of the Tuscarora Pottery has written a book describing his method of firing using waste crancase oil in great detail. His book is out of print but online book deales such as Abe Books or Bookfinder.com usually have used copies available. Also 'The Kiln Book" by Fredrick Olsen has details of various burners using oil as a fuel. Regards, Charles Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marcia Selsor Posted October 9, 2010 Report Share Posted October 9, 2010 Dennis' burner design for Crankcase oil was in the same issue of STudio Potter as my oil burner design modification. Dennis is a friend of mine. He now fires with recycled vegetable oil from fast food places in Elko, 50 miles from Tuscarora..pop. 9 now with the birth if his grand daughter Aurora. Axner has reprinted Park's book on Firing with Oil. ALso is you do an inner library loan you might be able to find it or the Studio Potter Book printed in 1978 from early issues of Studio Potter. There were many good ideas in the book. Marcia Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest JBaymore Posted October 9, 2010 Report Share Posted October 9, 2010 Keep in mind that used crankcase oil is not pure "oil" as we might typically tend to think about it. It was designed to lubricate automobile engines... and they put a lot of additives into it that are designed to make a car engine run better. NOONE in the oil company's chemistry/engineering department is thinking of combustion operations for their products. So the additives are getting run through the kiln at hight temperatures along with the resultant heat energy being evolved in the kiln. At the least, it makes the qualities of the effluent from the kiln a very questionable thing environmentally compared to burning a more "pure" oil based product intended for combustion operations. And one has to wonder if the wares in the kiln are picking up anything into the surfaces of the glazes that might not be all that desireable nor stable. As a professional kiln designer/builder I've only ever seriously looked at/used actual heating oils of various sorts for combustion purposes in kilns........ so I have not even considered what might be added to automotive diesel fule as additives to make the engine run better. There might also be some junk in there too besides just "potential heat value". Don't know. Stuff like kerosene and #2 heating oil is typically cheaper per gallon than diesel fuel... so using diesel to fire kilns didn't seem to make sense to me. Waste vegetable oil seems to make a lot more sense to me at this point. It is very easy to overlook thinking about this kind of stuff. best, .............john Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seasoned Warrior Posted October 9, 2010 Report Share Posted October 9, 2010 Keep in mind that used crankcase oil is not pure "oil" as we might typically tend to think about it. It was designed to lubricate automobile engines... and they put a lot of additives into it that are designed to make a car engine run better. NOONE in the oil company's chemistry/engineering department is thinking of combustion operations for their products. So the additives are getting run through the kiln at hight temperatures along with the resultant heat energy being evolved in the kiln. At the least, it makes the qualities of the effluent from the kiln a very questionable thing environmentally compared to burning a more "pure" oil based product intended for combustion operations. And one has to wonder if the wares in the kiln are picking up anything into the surfaces of the glazes that might not be all that desireable nor stable. As a professional kiln designer/builder I've only ever seriously looked at/used actual heating oils of various sorts for combustion purposes in kilns........ so I have not even considered what might be added to automotive diesel fule as additives to make the engine run better. There might also be some junk in there too besides just "potential heat value". Don't know. Stuff like kerosene and #2 heating oil is typically cheaper per gallon than diesel fuel... so using diesel to fire kilns didn't seem to make sense to me. Waste vegetable oil seems to make a lot more sense to me at this point. It is very easy to overlook thinking about this kind of stuff. best, .............john I am sure that firing with used crankcase oil affects the firing and may have a bearing on glazing. I personally use #2 fuel oil since that is the least expensive fuel in my area and quite a bit less than propane. I use two 100,000 btu commercial furnace burners. I have been playing with fry oil and also with biodiesel but at this point it is easier to use the #2 for me since I don't have the time to run around looking for fuel. Dennis Parks I believe was searching for lowest price fuel for firing his kilns and frankly, I have to hand it to him, he made it work. Crankcase oil also has a lot of really oneorous wear materials as well as toxic, partially burned byproducts of hydrocarbon combustion: a mix I'd rather not deal with. John, do you fire mainly with hardwood? Most of the wood available to me is soft and does not have the specific heat of hardwoods although I've toyed with the idea of building a kiln into a steep hillside I have in my back yard. I just can't imagine how many cords of wood I'd need to stockpile to get a good burn. Most of the wood I have is either redwood or Douglas Fir with a smattering of Monterey Pine. Best regards, Charles Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest JBaymore Posted October 10, 2010 Report Share Posted October 10, 2010 John, do you fire mainly with hardwood? Most of the wood available to me is soft and does not have the specific heat of hardwoods although I've toyed with the idea of building a kiln into a steep hillside I have in my back yard. I just can't imagine how many cords of wood I'd need to stockpile to get a good burn. Most of the wood I have is either redwood or Douglas Fir with a smattering of Monterey Pine. Charles, PINE! You have PINE! Man... that is the wood of CHOICE for many types of wood kilns. Japanese red pine is the wood that is highly desireable over in Japan. Cost a fortune in most parts of Japan. I've had the please of using it over there a lot. It has a nice long sinous flame character and produces some great flash and ash. I now use a eastern white pine and a hardwood blend. I used to use all pine......... but sawmill scrap is getting harder and harder to find here in southern NH. The down side of pine and fir and hemlock is the smoke. Pine is probably the most smoke prone wood. Cedar is pretty smokey too. The amount you will use depends on the kind of kiln and size of kiln you build. My noborigama takes about 2 cords per firing.....maybe 2 1/2 max. Noborigama are far more efficient than anagama. best, ...............john Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marcia Selsor Posted October 10, 2010 Report Share Posted October 10, 2010 You need to look up btu's per cord of wood. Elm is high up there/ The idea in wood firing is not all dependent on high btu for rapid release of the btu/type of wood. Marcia Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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