Possible new forge idea

[2Tim215]

I have been struggling to get LPG for almost three weeks now. I have a total gaz, BP and afrox and have been unable to buy LPG because of the shortage so will be modding all my forges to use recycled oil and LPG. The mod is quite simple on the blown burner set up that I have and from all the research that I have so far done I understand that I will get a hotter flame because the BTU's from oil are higher than LPG.
The idea is to do a short preheat with LPG and then run a gravity feed oil line into the burner. Once the forge is at red heat it is hot enough to vaporize the oil without the need to atomize the oil with compressed air.

I worked out that at the moment at maximum use of my LPG I am running at 0.95 ltrs of gas per hour at around R23.50/hr as a 19kg gives me 20 consecutive hours of forging time. I could get longer out of a bottle if I really managed my gas flow better, but this would only be a few hrs that really doesn't make much difference. With oil I can (according to the guys in the US) cut this cost to between R3-R5 / hr. And I can get used veg oil by the ton here and if that runs out then the same setup will work with diesel or paraffin at half the cost of gas.
I have also been playing around with an idea and I used to have a "old" coleman lantern that worked on unleaded petrol. You pumped the container and it worked like a gas lantern. Seeing that I have been unable to by LPG for almost 4 weeks now due to a gas shortage this gave me an idea that I want tinker with. I have researched veg oil and diesel and paraffin forges and although they work it seems that they are not always reliable.

So this is my idea:

What if I took a 19 kg gas bottle and modded it to take unleaded petrol. Petrol gives off fumes that in a contained environment would essentially be a gas. If I drilled a hole at the bottom of the bottle and inserted a ftg for a compressed air hose and used the compressed air to create the same effect that the lantern worked on then I would have the required pressure to run a forge? I think.

This is just an idea rolling around in my head and I have no idea if it would work. I usually learn things through trial and error but I'm thinking that we don't want trial and error in this scenario. So I am putting it up here on the forum hoping that some heated debate might turn up some ideas and possible ways to see if it would be a viable option - otherwise I am going to have to mod all my forges to run on diesel or oil.

If any of you have any ideas or experience with this type of setup I would appreciate any and all advice.

[ciladog]

So this is my idea:

What if I took a 19 kg gas bottle and modded it to take unleaded petrol. Petrol gives off fumes that in a contained environment would essentially be a gas. If I drilled a hole at the bottom of the bottle and inserted a ftg for a compressed air hose and used the compressed air to create the same effect that the lantern worked on then I would have the required pressure to run a forge? I think.

Gasoline, even under pressure, will remain a liquid not a gas. You are missing a component in your understanding of how a Coleman lantern works and that is the generator tube.

The pressure in the tank forces the liquid up the generator tube and the initial flame (when you light the lantern) heats that tube and vaporizes the liquid fuel into a gas. It is the vaporized fuel that is burning.

I think you should stick with oil. Your idea is very explosive.

[2Tim215]

Thanks for that explanation, makes perfect sense - don't know why I didn't consider it. With the gas shortage we are experiencing I need to find an alternative to gas without the expense of rebuilding everything.

[ThomasPowers]

Oil forges were a common industrial type; the big problem in my opinion was that they *stink*! Using waste vegetable oil should sort that issue out!

As mentioned messing around with gasoline is *dangerous* as the "oops" effects tend to be very very messy and painful. I'd go with your original plan for a bimodal system; or look into using your compressed gas to atomize the oil---you may be able to find a commercially available burner that will use that method that you can scavanged from a junked commercial system.