Wood boilers and radiant....................(Starch)

hot_rod

and it isn't limited to your own yard ;)

Consider a gasification type that burns much cleaner and more efficient.

The ISH show is a great place to shop for wood and biomass equipment it's all about high efficiency and clean burning over there. As such there were probably 100 or more brands and styles of gasification wood and biomass (pellet) boilers displayed there.

It's common to see variable speed inducers, outdoor reset and other nice features on wood burners built in Europe. Some had lamba sensors to watch and adjust burn efficiency.

Heating with wood can ba a lot of work. an average home could easily use 6 cords a season. That a lot of hauling and weight.

I like the biomass, pellet idea better. It uses mostly byproducts that were formly sent to landfills. Colorado is turning a lot of that beetle kill pine into biomass fuel.

That takes the fire hazard out of the mountains and provides a much needed alternative fuel source.

Canada is the worlds largest producer of wood pellets for fuel. A much saner place to send our energy dollars.

hr

John Starcher_4

My brother in law in law......

.....(actually my brother's brother-in-law) runs a family business in PA. They make cool stuff out of metal. He is considering expansion, which will involve a new building.

He called me today to ask about the feasibility of a wood fired boiler and radiant floors. I know this has been discussed here before, and my knowledge of wood fired boilers does not go beyond being able to spell them. The area is somewhat remote, and natural gas is not available. Oil or propane would have to be the fuel of choice. Alot of their raw materials are delivered on wood pallets, so a lot of wood scrap is generated. He would like to be able to utilize the wood for some heat, if possible.

Can someone give me an education?

Thanks,

Starch

Steve Ebels_3

Starch

Wood boilers like to run, and need to be run hot to stay clean. That being the case, a mixing valve or injection mixing is mandatory to avoid overheating the floor. If the unit he's going to use is truly a boiler (IE: it's sealed and pressurized ) there really aren't any other issues related to infloor heat. If he has an open system like a typical outdoor wood "boiler" you will of course need to use a heat exchanger to isolate the heating circuits and piping from the heating source.

PS: get used to working with "biomass" in all of it's many forms. I have a feeling that we as a group of heating professionals will be dealing with it more and more as time goes on. The days of the 3 basic fuels are numbered.

John Starcher_4

Thanks, Steve!

See - this is what I mean. I didn't realize there were different types of wood boilers (closed vs. open?)

Does anyone know of a good website, or have sample piping and control diagrams for something like this?

Starch

Steve Ebels_3

Too bad

We can't get that kind of equipment here in the US. For the most part, it seems the Euro's are concerned that Joe Woodburner here in the states can not run a gasification boiler properly. They see and hear horror stories of people burning garbage, tires, plastic and 35% moisture wood in their stoves and boilers and they freak out. Rightfully so I guess. They are also very nervous about product liability laws in this country. When you combine that factor with the first one, I can see why they hesitate.

The ones that are here, EKO and Tarm to name the larger players, are pretty basic. No OD reset, no Lambda sensors, no true variable firing rate. We'll just have to wait.
Maybe Econoburn which is made in the USA will raise the bar technology wise.

hot_rod

Steve

most of the Euro gasification boilers have microprocessor controls. My 4 year old EKO has OD reset, and a variable speed fan controlled by boiler temperature.