Babington Burner

Introduction

After searching for hours on details for the Babington burner, here is the best one:

http://www.aipengineering.com/babington/Babington_Oil_Burner_HOWTO.html

(source)

Here's a video that shows the clear potential of the Babington:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=78ebfypFLXI

Parts Sourcing

• Drill bit set - [1]
  • Ordered from Drill Bit City - [[2]]

Other Implementations

• From [3]

• Video on Youtube - [4]

Burner Ball

Here is a brass endcap with a channel for directing oil flow:

Does this work better than a ball?

Implementation at Factor e Farm

On 9.29.08 we started to put together our Babington burner. This burner is important because it is a versatile source of heat for: space heating, metal melting, glassworks, pottery, steam engines for remote power, heat engines for mobile power in cars and tractors, and many others. We can use it with any waste oil - crankcase, vegetable, etc. - plus pyrolysis oil from biomass once we develop it. It is not a far stretch to produce pyrolysis oil- see this simple experimental proposition. Do you think this would yield useful amounts of liquid fuel?

For the Babington burner, we drilled a 0.0135 inch hole in the face of a hollow, brass doorknob - and brazed on a fitting that supplied compressed air at a constant pressure between 20-35 psi. We were able to atomize water but when we tried motor oil we had problems. We were able to produce a bit of a flame but never sustained burning. Two possibilities: 1) the hole became clogged from debris inside the burner ball, 2) the oil was not heated sufficiently. Has anyone had success in sustaining a flame over a long period? What is a good method for automatic ignition? Best way to regulate the flow over the ball? Any feedback is welcome from experienced Babsmen.