Drywasher plant scheme..

[eddie13]

This is the engine to power this suck/blow drywasher..


I'm thinking a jet engine is going to do a better job blowing air than a standard piston internal combustion engine spinning a fan right?
And it will blow HOT air, real hot, which should be good for making sure what your drywashing is DRY..
The Keen drywasher in the pic is just for the theory, in reality it would be the size of a pickup bed or dumptruck bed.. Build it to take the heat.. Steel..
Should put out enough air to blow a perty big washer I think no?

Ok so the suck side..
It would probably be better to use an industrial collection bin like this...

If you haven't ran one of those trailer vacuums before they very easily empty into bags from the bottom flap thing or can be emptied right into a bobcat bucket or whatever..

I am hoping that the turbocharger will work pulling a vacuum but that's going to be weird keeping whatever AFR you need for a good jet burn with varying pressure differentials..
What I mean is that I think the turbocharger will be the only engine needed in the system, you won't need another compressor wheel/scroll in the shop vac part..

Another thing I'm thinking is the vacuum filter classification size..
Possibly, if you just let the turbo eat the smallest of the dust particles in the dirt you are sucking up, if they are organic particles, the turbo will burn em like fuel..
It could lead to less filter changes but if not you could just completely filter it..
You can find turbochargers with cast iron compressor sides too instead of aluminum to handle more abrasive in the air possibly if that was the last hangup..
Anyway that's just a silly side idea.. Imagine we are using a full filter just like a shop vac but BIG..

I'm not sure how big.. How much air the turbo will move compared to your average vacuum size or drywasher size.. It's got to be pretty darn big on both ends..

So there you have a vacuum hose to vacuum whatever dirt you want.. I haven't put a lot into vacuum sluicing methods but the pic, basic idea of your sucked air/dirt moved over a sluice of some sort to catch gold on your suck side also..

THEN..
If you used one of those quick empty type industrial vacuum cannisters you see on the trailer, you could mount it over the top of your drywasher and empty your vacuum side right to the top of your drywasher..

And, I bet you can burn a very wide variety of fuels in this device, propane, kerosene, gasoline, used engine oil, used frying oil, off road deisel..
You could probably find something to run it on pretty cheap and just run it on a mixed concoction of whatever you find to dump in the tank..

I think you could build it with the drywasher about the size of a pickup bed or smaller dumptruck bed, and just mount it on the back of a properly sized chassis truck, stick a ram on it to lift it up when you get there.. 4X4 drywasher to get into the desert..

Mount the jet engine and suck side rig to a flatbed trailer, maybe rig a jig to swing your easy emptying vacuum cannister over the top of the grizzley on your washer..
Like a polevault off the trailer, I'll draw it..

I don't know what all can be done.. Just ideas..
BUT.. I think you could power ATLEAST a beast of a drywasher off of a turbojet like this for CHEAP..

I'm pretty sure you can build the turbojet for under $1k and it will be quite reliable.. Might as well run a BIG turbo..

How much would it cost to get an engine and fan rig to blow near as much air as a turbojet? And the benefit of HOT air, should be good for a drywasher me thinks.. And then run it on whatever fuel you can get your fingers on..

I thing this would be an extremely efficient drywashing engine..
I always wonder why I don't see the heat and exhaust from drywasher engines not being utilized in the blow, you are just throwing that energy away..
Run the suck side through the fins of your aircooled head and pipe the exhaust into the blow to get as much heat and blow as you can..

Ok guys...
What do you think and how do we best utilize a turbojet powerplant for desert gold mining?

Drew it..

 

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[jeff of pa]

Post approved but Moved to Prospecting

 

[eddie13]

Post approved but Moved to Prospecting

Thanks bud!

I'm going to edit in a bunch of details so guys don't bash it too hard till I get it out there..

 

[Terry Soloman]

My first question is why? You dry wash down to bedrock, suck out the cracks with the dry vac, then pan out the concentrate.

 

[Bonaro]

How much gold do you have to find to offset the cost of fuel not to mention to cost of construction?

 

[N-Lionberger]

psh damn the price tag I like how this man thinks!

 

[SaltwaterServr]

back hoe and Keene's new drywasher will be out soon. It does 8 yards per hour.

 

[eddie13]

My first question is why? You dry wash down to bedrock, suck out the cracks with the dry vac, then pan out the concentrate.

Cost effective way to scale up a desert sluicing machine?

How much gold do you have to find to offset the cost of fuel not to mention to cost of construction?

I'm not sure about consumption numbers but I can't imagine any standard engine connected to a blowing device being more fuel efficient than a blowing engine..
I think it would be very fuel efficient airflow for airflow.. Especially considering alternative fuels you could probably get cheap so $$/air efficency could get very cheap if you run it on something like used fry oil, used engine oil, straight ethanol, whatever you can get the cheapest..
It should burn anything that burns and can be pumped through a fuel injector..

psh damn the price tag I like how this man thinks!

$1000 to build the engine
$1000 to build the sluice/grizzly
$1000 to build the vacuum side
$1000 to build the plumbing
$2000 for a trailer
Should probably just build the whole thing onto the trailer..

So maybe about $6k?
But where I live I can get all the steel I need dirt cheap, close to free.. But then again a drywasher is useless around here too..

back hoe and Keene's new drywasher will be out soon. It does 8 yards per hour.

How much is this 8 yard an hour machine?
What is it's engine and how much air volume does it push? How much is that compared to a turbojets air volume?
How much more benefit would HOT air blown provide?

Yeah, like this keen...
Dry Washer Hi Vac Complete System: Keene Engineering Online
But like.. X20 or so atleast right?

Big enough to dump bobcat buckets on the grizzly, or so..


I actually happen to kinda internet know a turbocharger modeling expert..
I'll get with him and ask about how much vacuum you could realistically run this engine on.. Pressure differential..
On the intake side of the turbo you will have to run a sort of reverse blow off valve, vacuum limiter, so when you cover the vac hose or clog up your vacuum you wouldn't stall out your engine and it would keep blowing your washer..
I think he could also offer a lot of advice as far as turbo compressor/turbine sizing for the task, and I could build turbos to suit from parts from used ebay turbos in my bedroom, as usual..

It would also be a very easily overhauled engine, just throw a new turbo into it for $500 or possibly much less depending on availability of turbo parts to build them or just run a standard production turbocharger. Price and availability of replacement turbos would be a foremost consideration. Have a spare or 2 and be able to swap em out in 20 minutes and keep sluicing..


I think a 3-5 man crew on a machine like this, bobcat, decent dirt, and one could find a decent amount of gold..

Even if you put $10k into it, you would only have to find 10oz of gold, 15oz to pay for your bobcat rental and fuels..
Think you could get 15oz in what? 2 cleanouts? less than a week of running hard?


Idealy, claimowners/prospectors would call my 3rd party sluicing business and say "Yep I found this good dirt, bring your machine and wash it for me in exchange for 25% of net profits, contract with minimum guaranteed to cover cost"
Couple $20 an hour employees, eventually train up a night shift and run it 24/7..
Get rich..

Start the Halliburton oilfield services company of desert gold recovery..

 

[Bodfish Mike]

Shoot for the moon -- even if you miss you'll land among the stars.
Better have some good ground lined up before you spend your money.
I hope the best for you.
Mike

 

[Arachnofreak]

Wow, that's pretty imptressive man, would take a lot of know how to get that thing going. I got friends that like to really get into all that stuff. They always have the coolest mining gear lol, I'm more of a dig dirt pan dirt find gold guy, keeping things simple has its ups and downs but I just don't have the brainpower to do it any other way. The most complicated piece of equipment I own is a river sluice although I am thinking about picking up a Gold Bug 2. Best of luck to you brother!

Charlie