Wood Fired Steam Powered Electricity?

[Guido Salvage]

Looking at the pictures I gotta ask, is that the old Burris plant at Brookneal Va. ? A few years back they had a rather large boiler explosion at that plant. Took out a large structure when it went BOOM. It never started back up after that. It's now set up for scrap metal. Use to make oak hard wood flooring for over the road trailers.

No, this engine came out of a lumber company in Montpelier, VA (west of Richmond) and we set it back up at Field Day of the Past. Is there anything worth saving down in Brookneal, we are always looking for new stuff.

 

[deutzman]

No, this engine came out of a lumber company in Montpelier, VA (west of Richmond) and we set it back up at Field Day of the Past. Is there anything work saving down in Brookneal, we are always looking for new stuff.

I think everything is pretty much been striped down in all those factories. The old Thomasville plant has about 12 workers that package paper plates and what ever goes with that type of stuff. It's owned by a Canadian now. Use to have over 400 workers making furniture. The old Burlington plant I expect still has the 3 coal boilers and one gas fired boiler. I think all the textile machinery is gone. When I worked there it was 435 workers. Basset Walker plant is being use to make plastic material and has a few workers. Use to be over 300 sewing machine operators there. Burris had over 200 workers and the 2 owners at the top took all the money/pension and left the country. One was brought back to stand trial and convicted but none of the money ever came back that belonged to the employees.

I hear the old Burlington plant(500+ workers gone) over in the town of Halifax is going to be remodeled to try and attract someone to buy and operate it. There may still be some machinery there but I've never been in that plant. Those boilers I mentioned in Brookneal were put in around 1948 and the gas boiler was added later. They are pretty big. They are in a building about 5 stories high. Coal fed in from the top and we ran them at 120 psi. I have no idea what they were designed to run. I remember many winters having to go help the boiler attendant thaw the coal up in the rail car to keep the place running. We'd use a long air line with a big air gun on the end, welding gloves and run steam through it to heat the cars up. All that while walking on the trestle. Some folks call that the good old days but I don't remember it being good. LOL It still has all the filter plant and waste treatment. We used 2.5 million gallons of water a day there and could supply the town of Brookneal if needed. It was a nice operation and had water rights on 2 rivers. Pulled from the Fallen and dumped back in the Stanton. Had a sludge press but may not be there now. The drum dryer on that exploded(factory service guy made a boo boo) but was put back in service.
Thanks for your reply.

I never liked steam. I'd never try to use it for anything.

 

[Ayatollah]

There are still many boats operated on steam engines. Piston type. They don't often explode, and they had auxillary steam engines to generate electricity on board. Many of those are wood fired boilers too.

 

[carlseawolf]

what about this !

Off Grid Personal Power Station- VictoryGasifier.com - YouTube

 

[LipDawg]

Here is an article about what can happen to people that play with relatively low pressure steam equiptment.

Steam Engine Blast At Ohio Fairgrounds Leaves 4 Men Dead - NYTimes.com

 

[deutzman]

Here is an article about what can happen to people that play with relatively low pressure steam equiptment.

Steam Engine Blast At Ohio Fairgrounds Leaves 4 Men Dead - NYTimes.com

I've seen the end results where 2 in my area blew up. Even if you have someone watching it, things can go wrong. Then panic takes over. Better know when to run. The one I mentioned at the Burris plant took out walls with cinder block and concrete. Operator ran and got away. The second one was at a saw mill less than 5 miles from the Burris plant and had only been in operation a year. It took the wood frame building down. Both boilers were junk after that. Both were in the 125 psi range too. From what little I've worked around them I know someone should be operating them at all times. Can't walk away very far and expect everything to be OK.

 

[zogger]

I worked at a wood shop production factory that used all their scrap to run a big GE steam turbine. They got heat and electricity from it, plenty. However, this was a very expensive unit that required two certified engineers per shift to operate.

The best bet to get off grid for electricity is start with a personal site survey, then determine which combination of alternatives will work for you. A typical off grid setup for residential use today will have a hybrid system using solar PV, wind, and a backup liquid fuel running generator. It's a big variable though, you need to do a site survey first. And remember, work to drop demand by using efficient appliances, then add to production. Dropping demand is always cheaper.

Home steam has never worked out very well in the altenergy community, it is inherently simple in theory, yet complex in practice, and requires a lot of maintenance and hands on all the time, whereas solar and wind once set up are almost maintenance free and quite safe. Hydro is another option but das goobermint can be quite the pain when it comes to permitting today for that.

The DOE has some maps that will get you going, find your area then look at solar and wind potential. It really matters your exact location and situation. Like where I am now, solar PV would be king, and little to no benefit from a windcharger. However, to the east of me up in the mountains, it just cracks some areas where a solar and wind hybrid system would work. Just depends. I have both solar and wind, but my windcharger is in a box, it just isn't worth setting it up here.

Right now the market is flooded with solar PV and there are some deals out there.

Home Power magazine is your one stop shop resource for these questions. Well worth it. They have a very nice archive as well.

Home Power Magazine: Solar | Wind | Water | Design | Build

 

[saxman]

George Henry Corliss was a genius who invented a valve gear that greatly increased the efficiency of stationary steam engines of all sizes. The patent on his valve gear ran out in 1870 so all makers of steam engines copied his system. That is why all engines with the Corliss valve arrangement are called Corliss engines even if they were made by another manufacturer such as Allis or Hamilton. If any of you are interested there are some good You Tube videos of Corliss valve engines in operation. It is sad that engines like the one pictured in this thread ran for many years and were junked or given to museums and were still fully functional. The boilers that supplied the steam needed to be replaced or other reasons caused the facility to change or cease their operations. Those old relatively low RPM stationary engines can run almost forever.

steve

 

[mga]

No, this engine came out of a lumber company in Montpelier, VA (west of Richmond) and we set it back up at Field Day of the Past. Is there anything worth saving down in Brookneal, we are always looking for new stuff.

heh..locally Kodak is filing for bankruptcy here in Rochester, NY

many feel they will be going under in the near future. tons of stuff there.