Hiding a powerplant in a residential neighborhood?

[sailawayrb]

.... as I said, atmospheric conditions must be right. This obviously means no wind but also means high humidity. Today we have drizzle, I suspect humidity is around 90%. My exhaust maxes out at around 170F after the exhaust heat exchanger and before it goes into the ground in a 4" plastic pipe. It goes through 2 accumulator tanks and I am guessing maybe 70 ft of pipe before coming out so it is pretty close to ambient, maybe 10 to 20 degrees more. No matter how you slice it, the exhaust has water vapour in it and it will run at 100% humidity as it is gradually cooled. If you live in a dry climate then it will immediately combine with the dry air and drop below 100% and be clear. If you live in a wet climate it will not.

Well...I live in Seattle, which I wouldn't consider to be a dry climate...  I have checked the exhaust temp where my exhaust surfaces and it has never been higher than 60 deg F and that was in the summer.  In the winter it is typically more like 40 - 50 deg F depending how cold it is outside.  I also burn propane concurrently with SVO, which should create even more water vapor than only burning straight SVO or diesel.  After my 6/1 has been running for several hours, there is indeed a significant amount of water flowing into the gravel termination bed directly below where the exhaust surfaces.  However, even this water is cold to the touch.  

I suspect my large concrete cistern setup and my 200 feet plastic pipe run allow the exhaust temp to get sufficiently low to condense practically all of the water vapor from the exhaust.  Of course, I am also only running a 6/1.  If one is running more HP with an associated increased CFM of exhaust, then one would have to increase the size their exhaust setup accordingly to achieve sufficient exhaust temp reduction.

Bob B.

[sailawayrb]

sailawayrb, just where did you get your degree in ME?
Ron

I received my undergraduate ME degree from Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken NJ in 1980.  I did my graduate EE at University of Washington after joining Boeing.

Bob B.

[vdubnut62]

Thought so! Sorry, I didn't mean to sound so snotty. I was very impressed (and more than a little overwhelmed) with all your work on your genset.

Ron

[sailawayrb]

Thought so! Sorry, I didn't mean to sound so snotty. I was very impressed (and more than a little overwhelmed) with all your work on your genset.

Ron

Thanks for the positive feedback Ron.  I was sort of hoping that perhaps you were an ex and long lost classmate! 

Bob B.

[bschwartz]

Bob, if Ron were an EX of yours from college........ you really have some stories to tell 

[vdubnut62]

Bob, if Ron were an EX of yours from college........ you really have some stories to tell 

Brett, Hey, Hey, Hey, easy now!

No Bob B. I only wish I had the personal fortitude to attain that level of "edumacation"
I did attend Tennessee Technological University, where I studied Chasing Girls, Excessive Alcohol Consumption, and the Slow Combustion
of Controlled Plant Matter. However, I never received a degree, nor finished any curriculum that I started.
If only I knew then what I know now.
Ron

[BioHazard]

This summer I actually plan on totally re-landscaping my whole yard, much of it is on a slope that I want to level out. I also need to dig a BUNCH of different drainage systems throughout the yard, my lawn holds water like a swimming pool. I imagine I could incorporate some exhaust abatement into that. I do have a lot of close neighbors, but there is a 2 acre abandoned overgrown lot behind me where I could do some venting...

[BioHazard]

I did attend Tennessee Technological University, where I studied Chasing Girls, Excessive Alcohol Consumption, and the Slow Combustion
of Controlled Plant Matter.

So you were a biomass major? 

[vdubnut62]

Hmm, why yes, I suppose so.
Ron

[veggie]

My 6/1 had an automotive muffler inside the building.
Outside, there was not very much noise.
I walked over to the neighbor's house after I installed it and I could barely hear it running.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qx5qABD5WD0

The unit I am currently building will also have a muffler inside the garage and a vertical stack outdoors.
The gen-set is mounted to the garage floor with rubber isolators.
Once it's up and running I can report further.

veggie

[quinnf]

That is a really amazing setup. Tell me your engine didn't come painted that color?  

Thanks, but NO  

She only achieved this beautiful red finish AFTER she was first completely disassembled, each of her components carefully inspected for sand contamination or any internal cast iron defects (gasoline/talc method), each of her components carefully machined to tolerances far in excess of any original Lister, and each of her components bathed in Lye to remove the ugly green Listeroid paint.  Only then was each of her components carefully painted red or black to suit her artist's/lover's perception of perfection, after which all her components were reassembled with proper respect, devotion and everlasting love.  

The red paint is a high temp ceramic engine paint.  While high temp paint is certainly not required for these engines, I wanted to use the brittle characteristic of this paint to hopefully provide advance warning of any future fatigue or stress induced cast iron failure.  Any such impending failure should cause the paint to chip/flake thereby revealing her fair, white primer underskin.  I also painted the inside of her crankcase with Glyptal to prevent oil from eventually seeping thru her porous cast iron body and potentially marring her beautiful red finish.

Bob B.

Bob,

Don't tell George I said this, 'cause he already thinks I'm nuts for painting both my '6/1s with Rustoleum Hammered Silver, but I think with that red paint you really need to replace all the exposed nuts with brass acorn nuts to give it the proper look.

Quinn

[BioHazard]

Another thought - I don't have a fireplace, but that doesn't mean I can't build a chimney that belches smoke! 

[highwater]

put some scented dryer sheets in the exhaust path

Randall

[veggie]

I heard that there are fuel additives sold in Germany that change diesel exhaust to something more bareable. They have so many more diesels there that fumes in the big cities is a problem.

Veggie

[mike90045]

I heard that there are fuel additives sold in Germany that change diesel exhaust to something more bareable.

To remove chemical smell, add yet another chemical.