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penfold

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They are planning to phase out coal generation in 2038. No, I have no idea why they are taking so long about it. The Greens there were responsible for the idiotic decision to close down their nuclear generating capacity and increase reliance on coal which does orders of magnitude more damage.
Energiewende, or at least the coal>>nuclear part of it, is one of the most moronic govt policies ever enacted. They could have been largely carbon zero by now without it.
 

DownWest

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They tell me that heating oil diesel will be off the market in a couple of years here. Those of us out of town with fewer options can switch to biodiesel. Just needs a new burner unit. Wonder what things will cost if one has no option? Solar electric is quite pricey as it must be fitted by 'approved' firms and air-con the same. No DIY.
 

penfold

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They tell me that heating oil diesel will be off the market in a couple of years here. Those of us out of town with fewer options can switch to biodiesel. Just needs a new burner unit. Wonder what things will cost if one has no option? Solar electric is quite pricey as it must be fitted by 'approved' firms and air-con the same. No DIY.
Shouldn't need a new burner unit; a different nozzle/jet size at most.
 

Habebty

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I expect that the reason for that was just as much to give the elderly stokers an easier life.
Well yes in a sense, it was just not possible to manually coal fire such a large firebox. Mechanical coal firing was used but considered unreliable and was fitted to some British freight locos, but was prone to jamming if a large lump found its way onto the helix.
 
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Kukri

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Completely trivial aside at this point; whilst looking round the Long Shop museum in Leiston I noticed an exhibit covering steam mechanical stokers which were made by Garretts of Leiston for Beyer Garratt steam locomotives. Apart from both being in the steam engine trade, the two firms were otherwise not connected.
 

Kukri

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My inner schoolboy trainspotter recalls that the Great Eastern Railway converted some of their locomotives to oil firing in 1891 ... because they were receiving complaints about the fouling of the river Lea by the oily residue left over from making coal gas for carriage lighting.

They converted eighty locomotives and ran them on the oil that they had been pouring into the river Lea.

LNER Encyclopedia: The Great Eastern Railway: Locomotive History
 

penfold

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That was my thought too, along with checking the air fuel mix, but informant said new burner. Maybe he has shares in burner makers....
I suppose in extremis a new diffuser with an alternative design might be required but the rest of it is just a big fan, a fuel pump and a structure to hold everything in place; given the same burner can(with suitable preheating when relevant and appropriate jetting) burn everything from candlewax to turpentine I have difficulty believing biodiesel is any different. Perhaps the residues are corrosive and the diffuser needs to be stainless, but that also seems unlikely.
 
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pvb

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I suppose in extremis a new diffuser with an alternative design might be required but the rest of it is just a big fan, a fuel pump and a structure to hold everything in place; given the same burner can(with suitable preheating when relevant and appropriate jetting) burn everything from candlewax to turpentine I have difficulty believing biodiesel is any different. Perhaps the residues are corrosive and the diffuser needs to be stainless, but that also seems unlikely.

As the owner of a dual burner Rayburn, I await the future with interest!
 

michael_w

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Completely trivial aside at this point; whilst looking round the Long Shop museum in Leiston I noticed an exhibit covering steam mechanical stokers which were made by Garretts of Leiston for Beyer Garratt steam locomotives. Apart from both being in the steam engine trade, the two firms were otherwise not connected.

Anything to do with Garrett of turbo and supercharger fame?
 

Bilgediver

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Many moons ago my ship was alongside in Mombasa when a narrow gauge Garrett pulled up alongside. I picked up my camera as I had a promise to fulfill . I took various pictures of detail around the motion and crossheads etc as well as pictures of tenders cab and boiler when the driver appeared. I asked if I could go in the cab which he allowed and then asked f it was OK A for me to get between the frames to photograph the universal steam pipe couplings. He politely told me that even the skinny lads in the workshop could get there and I had no chance. They were amazing machines and a wonderful sight running across the plains.
 

Alicatt

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As the owner of a dual burner Rayburn, I await the future with interest!
When I first bought my house in Belgium it was oil fired, there is a big tank under the sun lounge that fed it, it holds something in the region of 9,000 litres (aprox 2,000 gallons) Filled it once was still a shock to the pocket!
I rented out my house until I was ready to move in but the tenants managed to wreck some of the upstairs, so an insurance claim for the repairs helped me convert from the oil fired heating to gas, still it cost me around €7k for the conversion and replacement of original pipework, gas has been a lot cheaper to run over the years.

What ever the tenants had done they managed to break the outflow waste pipe from the bath and it had flooded the upstairs and it was the drip in the lounge downstairs that alerted us to the problem. The previous owner had a business in decorative ceilings and had used the house to display different types of finish, with the kitchen having a fake wood plank plastic ceiling. The kitchen is 5m x 3.5m with the ceiling being 2.65m from the floor, I removed the edge finishing pieces and got to the last plank to start to take them down one by one, I touched the first plank and a ripple went along the whole ceiling and then a big wave - literally - and the whole ceiling came down as one, and I got washed on to the wall with a flood of water.
The ceiling had been sealed and the water had built up between the bathroom and the kitchen, the floors here are made of concrete beams about 0.5m thick, 1m wide and 4m long with hollow sections running through the length and the water had sat in the hollow sections until I inadvertently released it. Well a few hours work was done in about 2 seconds :D
 

Kukri

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Anything to do with Garrett of turbo and supercharger fame?

No: the turbocharger Garrett was John Clifford Garrett and he was an American who lived in Los Angeles:

Cliff Garrett - Wikipedia

Garrett AiResearch - Wikipedia

The traction engine Garrett family were founded by Richard Garrett - and became quite a dynasty:

Richard Garrett (1755–1839) - Wikipedia

Richard Garrett & Sons - Wikipedia

(but see also Newson Garrett, Snape Maltings, Dr Elizabeth Garrett Anderson, Millicent Garrett Fawcett, etc...)


Now, in order to make things really confusing, in 1932 the group that the Garrett family had sold their business to went bankrupt and were bought by Beyer Peacock:

Beyer, Peacock and Company - Wikipedia

who had, in 1908, bought the right to manufacture the type of articulated steam locomotive invented by Herbert Garratt:

Herbert William Garratt - Wikipedia

I think that the reason Beyer Peacock bought Garretts of Leiston was that they needed the stoking engines, but I don’t know.
 

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