Heating the reactor with home built hot water heater

[rusty]

My first thought was to plumb the reactors into my hot water boiler, but have since decided to make a small electric hot water heater so that my reactors are more portable had they been married to the boiler.

Most of this project will consist of recycled parts and items I have laying about my shop. Wife wanted to go to one of our landfill sites last Sunday the trip netted a few computers, a really cool 5 gallon glass creamer, large bucket of wheel weights, commercial coffee maker with sight glass lastly a 40 lb propane bottle.

The 40 lb propane bottle will be the basis of my hot water heater, this afternoon after posting a parcel made a trip to another landfill, eureka a small gold mine of treasures. Full truck load of computers, POS terminlas and sat receivers along with a discarded electric hot water tank.

The discarded hot water tank I'll cut the fittings free from the tank, these fittings are where the elements are screwed into the tank. Once cut free I will trim the excess metal off them use them as weld on fittings on my own hot water heater.

Thermometer from discarded Hobart dishwasher will be affixed to keep an eye on temperature, I'll use a grunfoss circulation pump to keep the heated liquids moving.

The tank will sit on a cart for mobility, the wheels came from a discarded soft ice cream machine.The sight glass from that commercial coffee maker to keep an eye on fluid levels and drain the tank when necessary yes theres a spigot just below the sight glass. Finally the tank will sit inside an enclosed wooden box surrounded with roxall insulation.

Now I'm off to figure out how to safely unload a 55 gallon drum of hydrochloric acid from Pats truck.

 

[rusty]

Good start, cut the fittings from the hot water tank trimmed the excess metal now hunting down my brazing rod. I want to sweat that one fitting onto my tank so that I can use the spring clamp to hold my thermostat in place.

A nice close weld is needed on the element fitting as on the outside diameter a spring clamp slips over to hole the thermostat and this has to be a close fit to the outer wall of the tank. Inside the thermostat is a bi-metal disk depending on temperature this disk makes and breaks the electrical current.

I've loaded the small reactor and the stirring action is really helping to digest the metals, cant wait to get some heat into that baby.

 

[rusty]

Heating element, thermostat and circulation pump are installed ready to be plumbed into the reactor. The circ pump connects to the bottom spigot of the reactor assuring it is full at all times, the top spigot simply drains back into the hot water tank.

Yet to install is a valve to restrict the liters per minute being circulated, figure between half to a liter circulating through the reactor will do the trick.

Both elements on the donor tank were good, guess the tank was a leaker.

 

[butcher]

Do not forget to install a safety valve pressure and temperature relief, even hot water heaters can explode when things go bad.
Many water heater will also contain a sacrificial anode, for corrosion, a drain valve in the bottom to drain the calcium and magnesium scale.
I do not see a fresh water inlet, normally they enter cold water to the bottom of the heater even if the connection is at the top of the water heater, in that case a tube inside takes the cold water to the bottom. hot water rises in the tank so hot water normally comes off of the top, you could also add fresh water at the recirculating pump.

I know your not finished yet and already have plans, of how you will construct it, I just thought I would mention these encase you were not thinking of them yet.

I like watching you work with your projects they are always interesting.