I recall an article in an old TMEN about a guy who made a small, tabletop, high performance, multifuel, fluidized bed boiler. He designed this thing for use in a steam driven car. My question is does anyone know of SMALL, steam turbines/gen-sets. Say in the neighborhood of 1-2 kw. I really like the idea of co-generation where you produce electricity and use the waste heat for space heating.

My saw mill produces copious amounts of sawdust and such a rig would be able to burn it and make electricity and heat.

-- john leake (natlivent@pcpros.net), December 20, 2000

Answers

John, Sounds like a winner. Don't know the figures your looking for (maybe Hoot knows) but in the archives is an adress for a steam power site with diagrams for a system. Didn't know if you had checked it out.

-- Jay Blair in N. AL (jayblair678@yahoo.com), December 20, 2000.

John, There is a site for small scale steam engines and boilers. I have deleted the site because the cost was way too high (like 5K for the smallest engine). The fluidized bed is used, as I recall, to reduce nitrides during the combustion process from burning coal. The main problem with burning sawdust is the air pollution. Very high combustion temperatures, probably with a secondary fuel, can reduce the problem somewhat. Commercial sawdust burners use smokestack scrubbers, I believe. Keep us informed on your research.

-- JLS in NW AZ (stalkingbull007@AOL.com), December 20, 2000.

Hi John:

Try these sites:

http://home.earthlink.net/%7edlaw70/12stmng.htm http://tinypower.com http://www.steamservices.co.uk/Steam_Engine_Index.htm

-- Jim (catchthesun@yahoo.com), December 20, 2000.

john, Vol 83/3 of Countryside (may/june 1999) has a section starting on page 36 about steam power. Explains how to construct, rate horsepower, etc.

-- Jay Blair in N. AL (jayblair678@yahoo.com), December 21, 2000.