Jenbacher JW20,… made a few years after 1950, I can’t find any year on the engine,… well, first all vital parts need to be inspected, so it looks like this today…
I removed the piston for the compressor, the working piston is 125 mm in diameter, it moves 145 mm, the piston rings are all intact but I will replace them, the air gap is more than 1 mm
the engine head has a thin crack between the combustion chamber and the intake valve, it was probably caused by the expansion of the combustion chamber, which is closed in the head, maybe I will weld it, but if I want to weld it well, it will also be necessary to replace the seat of the intake valve, … or left as it is … the valves are good, the combustion chamber is also, well, it will be necessary to enlarge the side opening to fit the size of the spark plug.
Hi Tone, as you said piston for compressor, this is an air-compressor built in the same engine block?
Interesting engine, first i wondered if it was a two-stroke diesel (charging compressor)
Goran, this is a “normal” diesel engine that drives a piston for air compression, it is actually a construction compressor. The diesel engine works on the principle of “preheating” the fuel in the antechamber, the volume of the antechamber represents approx. 20-30% of the compression space where the diesel fuel is injected. Here, the fuel ignites and partially burns, while complete combustion takes place in the engine cylinder. The compression ratio of this engine is approx. 1:20, which I will change to 1:13 with a thicker gasket and machining of the engine piston. The engine has 1.8 liters of displacement per cylinder, this should work very well on wood gas.
So, I’ve looked at this picture quite a few times and still don’t know what I’m looking at. Especially the last picture with the valves. Is it a flat head? Is that some sort of reed valve in the third picture? Will you have to make your own head gaskets? Color me dumb.
There is a lot of talk about self-sufficiency in energy from renewable sources, here we all agree that the best source for this is wood gas. The basic and most important part for this is a good gasifier, which produces strong clean gas, and an equally important piece of equipment is the engine, which converts this gas with good efficiency into mechanical work (and heat). We have already talked a lot about engines that run on wood gas, but let me list some of the features that such an engine should have:
-robust construction, easy maintenance and management
high compression ratio, but not more than 1:13 (14)
-small friction and heat losses
As you can see, I started rebuilding and rebuilding a Jenbacher JW20K engine, I can say that I am amazed by this engine, the main shaft rotates on very large ball bearings, the piston bearing is lubricated with an oil press, interestingly, it has a solved camshaft that controls the valves and a diesel pump (if you remember that the VW company developed a pump/nozzle system around 2000 and presented it as an innovative patent, well, Jenbacher already did it in 1950). As I mentioned earlier, this engine works on the principle of injection into the antechamber, where the diesel fuel is preheated and partially burned, and then the fire spreads through a relatively narrow gap into the cylinder, where it swirls and burns completely. This process gives a relatively smooth operation, similar to what is now being tried to achieve with multi-point fuel injection in modern diesel engines. I think it will also work well on wood gas, I will install the spark plug through the opening for heating, but I will keep the diesel system, because in addition to wood gas, I plan to use used oil, which I collect when I change the oil on my machines.
Interesting Tone, exactly what is in my head. But on my way to a client at 22.00. He is calling me since before X mas. Work work. I will never ever catch up with you
Joep, you’re running around for no reason - Friday evening
But, I’m busy too - on my back in the couch with a glass of wine and the boiler roaring downstairs
Friend Joep, don’t talk like that, because you have a good Lister engine, which is already connected to the generator, and I have a workshop full of black dirty parts from some historic engine,…
Yes, running around all day and why? Good question. A friend called me last summer in Croatia and told me he has a kidney tumor. That mountain in Biokovo was the last on my bucketlist. You never know what is next. Riding a snowscooter is another one . And woodgas of course. So close but no time. Gonna spent some time with my bether half and close my eyes. Tomorrow is working day again. Work is one of my hobbies, that the goid part
My friend Boštjan visited me today, while I had just washed the parts from the Jenbacher engine, only now in the picture he sent me, I can see that I have a gray beard and hair but a black mustache.
Haha, just like Nikolai Tesla. He had to visualize in his head before building. I tried that a lot of times and always end up with something else. There are only a few masters in this world.
Memory check: I’m thinking the drawing is from How to Keep Your Volkswagen Alive by John Muir, from a long tiime ago. Can anyone confirm whether I’m holding my own against dementia?
I worked with John Muir for 30 years and I do not remember him doing a drawing like that. Now his grandfather was the famous John Muir in California explorer naturalist are you talking about him?
