Real Minecraft Furnace turns coal into electricity! 

If I'm not mistaken (and I very well could be), TECs' power output is directly related to the thermal gradient across the cell. The larger the temperature difference, the greater the power. So, it doesn't matter how hot the interior of the inner chamber is if the exterior is also heating up. 400 on the 'hot' side vs. 200 on the 'cold' side produces less power than '300' on the hot side vs. '50' on the cold side.

Everybody chilling untill this person creates a fully functional command block

wow at this rate we wont need mc vr we have joel 😂

You definitely need insulation and even flow of air across the whole heatsink. TEC's really hate uneven heating and cooling, if even just a small part of a TEC is hotter then the rest it eats in to your power output!

one big efficiency loss is in the exhaust of the furnace, which is literally just venting an immense amount of thermal energy to the atmosphere in steam engine boilers, the exhaust of the firebox runs through a set of tubes running down the entire length of the boiler, the goal being to extract as much energy as possible from the hot exhaust, and i would actually say that the exhaust is probably where the majority of the energy is going, and it should maybe be the focus of your attention, placing several heatsinks directly in the exhaust flow to gather energy from it before it is discarded

I actually quite like the current finish of the Furnace. Reminds me of the early Minecraft modded furnace generators. A metal-looking furnace is basically exactly what they looked like, and a furnace that produced electricity instead of cooking things is basically exactly how they worked, so I think this actually works perfectly! :D

So cool to see all the copper heatsinks you picked up working for what you needed them for.

Thank you for the honest video. I often see flawless videos from other creators which lowers my self-esteem. In almost all my projects I face unexpected problems and seeing other people are struggling too helps to keep track of reality. Thank you 🙏

Joel, have you tried characterising the TEGs you're using in a single-TEG, no regulator scenario? It sounds very much like you might need to back to basics in order to reduce the number of variables you're working with. Maybe make a miniature proof of concept model for your heater/TEG/cooler sandwich and take it from there. Your electrical insulation between hot and cold is the only obvious issue as far as i can tell, but it would help to be able to prove this in isolation.

Joel is on a journey to get Mojang to finally update the minecart, we all know it needs a buff!!! #Mojang #BuffMinecart #FurnaceCart4Bedrock

Oh so goooood! I love the effort, and now I can look forward to 5X the electrical output. I KNOW you'll do it... SOMEHOW! You pay so much attention to details I don't even notice until the 3rd or 5th viewing! You should make full length movies! Congrats!

That's not a furnace it's the generator from Industrialcraft 2! Then there wouldn't be any problems with the design :D Really cool what you've done!

The thermal electric cells are probably rated at peak efficiency, meaning extremes on both ends, you would need liquid nitrogen on the cooling side to get anywhere near peak wattage, but if the goal is to run on only combustibles, two ideas come to mind. 1. There is more room for thermal electric cells with some space optimization. Just avoid stacking them. A furnace with less width, more hight and depth, with heat sinks parallel to airflow should increase thermal capture and release while adding more room for cells and cooling heatsinks. 2. Optimizing the use of exhaust could get you very far. (exhausting out the front is a bad idea as wind will oppose the exhaust when the furnace-minecart is in motion, make that port aesthetic and move all exhaust to the top back, the wind will then feed the furnace so fans don't waste your power. Also, a tall chimney will utilize your exhaust through convection to generate more free airflow without much need for fans.

You need to put the air hole lower in the coal chamber, roughly at the same level with the burning coals. Cause you are not only fueling air to the coals, you are taking away hot air.

Idea for the pixels: if you use the CNC for drawing, you could use dithering, i.e. have differently spaced dot grids inside each pixel to represent darker and lighter shades when viewed from a distance. The farther the dots are spaced apart, the lighter the shade. Should work great here 👍🏻

You could water cool the cold sides and then run the cooling water through a radiator on the front of the minecart. Together with better insulation that should improve performance quite a bit.

Watching you charge your phone with burning coal was so sick! Really hope you manage to get the furnace working to its fullest.

Great project. Few thoughts: - Cuts aluminum sheet with a CNC? Lol. You can use standard woodworking tools to cut aluminum. A jigsaw, a circular saw, a table saw, just fine. But it's loud. - Titanium screws and plates? Ugh. Makes almost zero difference. The thermal mass combined with the difference between that and steel, yields probably less than 1% difference from using steel. - Cabinet hinges was a great idea. Really slick and clever application. - Your heatsink fins are horizontal, that jams up airflow. You have to pull air sideways rather than just let it rise. - All those insulator plates are too much thermal mass and too much thermal conduction, I bet you're losing most of your energy though that. - TEMs require a thermal difference obviously, and the bigger the thermal difference the more power you can pull from them. So, more aggressive cooling on the coolsinks would make them work a lot better. Even bonding them to the outside of the case, you have that massive aluminum sheet as a potential heatsink. Likewise for thermal mass inside, a copper plate or even just a big slab of steel to soak up energy in the combustion chamber would help keep the hot side hot. - Clamping load on heatsinks is often underestimated for efficient thermal transfer. It wouldn't surprise me if you needed several tons of clamping force to keep those surfaces in contact. The thermal compound is still a terrible heat conductor compared to metal, it's only there to fill in the microscopic surface features between the metal plates. You want the metal touching metal as much as possible, the thinnest lay possible (with excess squished out with clamping pressure) can make a 300% difference.

I really like the unique approach to powering the cart, it's awesome to see the effort you're putting into it. I also really appreciate that you include the parts that didn't go to plan, the solutions to those problems are really interesting.

nice work, i did something similar with peltier modules to add a fan to a central heating radiator ran off the radiators heat. 1. if you mount the larger outer heatsinks with the fins orientated vertically you can make use of convection currents to aid airflow. 2. you could repurpose/reuse the expelled (cell cooling) air into the exhaust using a manifold to make it suck air through the exhaust. this would delete the wasted energy on the exhaust fan your currently using. 2a. you could also repurpose this hotter heatsink air into the fire/furnace intake aswell....recycle some more heat. 3. its possible your exhaust fan is also cooling the internal furnace heatsinks with too much airflow. 4. you already mention insulation, it will definately help. (edit) point 1 will also address your modules being at a uneven distance from your heatsource. the top ones will be cooler and therfore flow less electricity, actually being slightly restrictive in energy output to the other two hotter cells.

To get a more detailed finish, you could try sanding the "pixels" to different grits, i.e. lower grit for darker grey, higher grit for lighter grey

You are such a Geek and I freakin lovin' it my friend 😎 though I dunno a crap bout minecraft... This is def one of the coolest projects yet, rly love the details and solutions you have made. 🤓 Just awesome!

I am glad you did not make any complicated steam boiler. I wonder though if a flash boiler would have been a safer alternative if it were only driving a turbine for electricity. As for a stirling motor good luck getting any meaningful power without a high pressure atmosphere in it. I guess an alternative you could have done was like gasification to power an engine. Either way I support the route you have chosen and I am hoping to see your success.

nice job on the project! keep at it, I'm sure it will get there eventually. After you get the furnace cart fully functioning, perhaps make another minecart with no power, just a box on wheels to make a minecart train.

Always blown away with what you make

This is awesome 😊 a really interesting sophisticated project. Thanks for the insights, describing the struggles and challenges you have had. Your project is so slick and well thought out. I struggle with getting knocked down by the details and hardships of a project. Seeing you produce a slick project but letting us know it's hard behind the scenes and how persevered helps me feel better when I stumble in a project, to try and push through thanks.

this is the most badass build i've seen in a while, your channel just keeps getting cooler!

Great video! I love your Minecraft inspired creations. At 12:20 it was literally my boyfriend on our last vacation, trying to get a coal fire going so I could get s’mores. I love him haha. Your reaction was so relatable.

That is a far more interesting take on a furnace cart than anything else I've seen

Thoughts. Insulate the core so the hot and cold parts are more separate. Maby direct the airflow more efficent trough the cold side heatsink. This would make a huge diffrence. If I understand those plates you are using, the bigger diffrence between hot and cold make bigger voltage. For fun, try cooling the cold side with ice and look if you can gain bigger out put.

I really appreciate seeing you grow. You are really pushing yourself but you're pulling it off. I love to see you just doing it and doing it well. The quality on your recent projects is incredible.

10:21 "Why are you so wildly inefficient?" Me to myself when doing anything.

Amazing! The creativity that Minecraft inspires within the game and outside of it, the things people learn, do and create thanks to MC is just mind blowing. I myself got into metal casting and ended up on YT because of a MC modpack called Feed the Beast. I have learned so much because of MC, and now I have learned about thermoelectric generator systems. Thanks Joel!!! This is some A Grade content! Keep these awesome projects going, you have more than earned my subscription 👍👊

cant wait for coal powers minecart

when he explained that liking and subscribing actually gives him the budget he need, i subscribed for two reasons, to not miss out on what other stuff like this he has, but for the reason he explained.

2:45 this moment right here gave me flashbacks to ElectroBOOM's video "Making Cooler/Generator with Thermoelectric Device" and got excited because I was like "Oh! I've seen this before". Amazing work, keep it up!

I think you're going to need a big redesign here unfortunately to get the efficiency you need. Combine the airflow systems so you can get more airflow with the same power draw. Intake> cooling> furnace> exhaust. I'm thinking the fins of a large heatsink could be used as an exhaust path, putting a flat sheet over the top and blocking alternate fins for exhaust gas to snake through like a radiator, and using exhaust port heatsinks like this for each TEC. I'm assuming a lot of JB weld and cut a bit out of alternating fins for the airflow so its something like this _________________________________________l Or if it needs more airflow then double up on the fins like this ____________________________________________ ____________________________________l l ^ ________________________________< l l____________________________________< l >______________________________________ ^ l >________________________________________l Hopefully the format isn't changed so the diagrams look like they do for me

Dude this is incredible!!! I could not imagine doing something as complicated as this

This is some next level engineering my friend

Awesome engineering love we’re your taking the channel. And remember play like a sport pay like a sport. So cool to see such high end tech going into the build.

Can I play Minecraft with u

I love how the cat is like, "You're waaaay too close to my snack."

So freaking good! Love your videos. Keep up the great work.

I love it man, keep up the good work and stay inventive

Looking really interesting mane, hope to see more soon

Just a stupid thought, but I feel it is an interesting concept: If you had like a big heatsink sticking out the top of the furnace or something along the lines of that, the wind, from the minecart moving, would cool the heatsinks, in turn making the Peltier modules more efficient, thus generating more electricity for the minecart to move faster, generating more wind, etc...

Well done! I really am inspired by this video to finish my projects!

I love how you used the scene of the bridge breaking from The General.

I think this is such a good idea, don’t give up, keep trying mate!!!

This dude turns industrial craft into reality.

Your project are crazy ambitious.

12:00 kitty cat got himself a meal :D

I’m excited to watch this, I was waiting for it ever since the last video! 😁

Nice build man!! Would putting the cells on the roof of the inner furnace be more efficient since hot air rises? Keep up the greatness bro!!!

I really liked this video and all the efford you put in to it. Love your content!

*@Joel Creates* 7:40 You could "recycle" the air for an even more efficient burn. Not sure how exactly, but the principle is like this: Take cold air from the outside & let it pass over the heat-sink while it's as cool as possible, (then maybe let the air go up in the upper compartment?) Then use those fans to push the now pre-heated air into the coal burning box, to create a more oxygen saturated flame that is hotter, and only THEN let air exit the furnace, but preferably draw the air an extra round past the hot side of the heat-sink-area to really push in the last heat into them (like how Tiled Stoves rout their hot air to get out as much heat as possible). Good luck.

11:44 MY FRIEND QUINCY MADE THE BIG LEAGUES LET'S GOOO

I’m loving the “Minecraft in real like” journey your taking us on! Thank you for the amazing content!

Dude fantastic project and video! Very excited to see how you come up how to make it run the cart. I’m 3/4 of the way finishing a furnace build of my own that will smelt down metal like in the game.

as a blacksmith it made me chuckle to see you try to light up coal with a blowtorch, it reminded me of when i was a beginner. Yeah you have to put the coal in an already red hot fire... And good idea having a good air flow in the chamber, coal doesnt burn well, you need constant oxygen supply. Charcoal will burn without additional air flow , and will give off a lot of heat quickly. wood will just gunk up everything, except if the whole contraption becomes hot enough to burn the tar off

That looks really neat. I love the concept. If that was only 20% I would love to see this thing optimized

Very respectable video. Not many people are willing to show the part of the creative process where things don't work and having to do major redesigns. Good on you man

This is the most convoluted coal generator ever I love it

Ur a mad genius! Awesome job dude!

This is really cool! Keep it up

Thanks for this I love it

congrats, you managed to make me actually care about the furnace minecart!

I like where your project is going. I say to keep working on the improvements that you mentioned.

Could up efficiency by removing some layers and build the heat transfering walls out of heatsinks and mount the teg directly to that

Few points for improvements. Most have been mentioned by others. 1) The greater the difference between your heating and your heat sinks cooling the more power you will get out of your TEG. 2) Quality of your thermal grease/paste will affect your transfer rate. 3) Insulation will also help. To ensure that all the heat is going through your heat sinks and your TEG rather then going into the air around it. 4) While moving the smoke away via a pipe is good. You are losing heat. So rooting that with some heat pipes to your TEG would give you more power.

when the FTB modpack has "iron furnaces" mod installed

I want to see more! This is amazing!

another problem that's relatively obvious to me is the fact that the hottest air from the coals are immediately "sucked" out via the central pipe, having little to no chance to warm the plates... a problem Benjamin Franklin faced when he tried to remake the household furnace

One problem with normal buck converters is they don't track the maximum power point of the input, meaning that if you draw a bit too much current, the input voltage will crash as it tries to draw too much current from the supply to keep the output voltage up. What you want is to have an MPPT-based buck converter feeding your load. Unfortunately I don't know of any efficient ones that work at low currents and voltages. You might get away with a circuit like William Fraser's "Solar MPPO" where you set the desired input voltage with a potentiometer and it bucks to whatever voltage it can reach at that input voltage.

This is genuinely awesome

I gave up on making content for a long time.... and its videos like this that inspire me to try again. Thank you for all the amazing work you do.

For the finish, I would suggest electrical etching. It is fairly safe to do on aluminum, and pretty easy too! Depending on how long you do it, the finish can be different.

I wasn't actually expecting peltier module when u say nasa part i was like expecting some atomic fancy fusion thing whatsoever but im not disappointed

i personally absolutely love steam power, but this is also VERY cool! I think in general, insulating the main chamber from the airflow which cools the heatsinks is one of the major improvements which could be done. what could also be done to increase effiiciency, is use a smaller combustion chamber, and have the exhaust pipe route through where the hot side of the thermoelectric elements are. you get roughly the same power output but for less coal. the idea is it removes more energy from the coal, since currently all the hot air just quickly moves out of the way and wastes heat. this is why in steam trains, the exhaust from the boiler is what runs through the water tank and thus heats the water.

I think your definitely going about the problem in the right way.

Nice video👍👍Amazing project, I hope to see it powering the minecart one day

Highly intertaining edutainment video. Thank you

Nice project! Subscribed!

no one gonna mention the cat at 12:00 carrying a dead mouse LMAO

love the vids keep up the good work :D

It'll run slower even at the cells full capacity, and it might need gearing to get it rolling, but it'll work if you optimise it some more! Honestly I'd be really interested in seeing the optimisation process itself, data and all! Throw in some charts and I'll watch even an hour long video from you Though as for alternative ideas.. there would be the option to go halfway steam powered. As in, you keep the Peltier modules, but use water to cool them down If they manage to get so hot as to make the water boil enough, you could use that steam for some extra power by either running a turbine, or connecting it directly to the driveshaft somehow

This the coolest thing ever i want to see more!!!!

This is awesome!

Joel, the exhaust from the coal burning carries most of the heat energy from the fire. If you want to significantly improve your efficiency, I suggest directing the exhaust near the thermocouples as well. Also, you should be able to copy alot of ideas from boiler design. That said, 200 years of research has gone into developing practices for safe boiler building and operation. In addition, a watertube boiler should contain shrapnel in the extremely unlikely event of an explosion. Just follow engineering best practices and you'll be fine.

I missed this video when it came out, but this is VERY cool. One thought is that you want to pass oxygen through the coal. To do this on a steam locomotive, oxygen comes from under the firebox, then is exhausted through the stack. That airflow through the grates and coal itself is critical to full even combustion. Might be worth looking at an old furnace motor, as they can handle the heat during fire up. That's what I used on my old steam engine. Also may be worth trying a fan outside the airflow to create a vacuum in the firebox.

Just liked and subbed to support you. On these creative builds

This is awesome

You've made excellent progress at enabling your real life Minecraft furnace to actually output a Redstone signal. I'm proud of your ingenuity in this pursuit. I hate to get technical, but I feel for accuracy's sake, you're missing a critical set of components. The furnace needs to be able to cook meats, using the heat produced by the fuel. I picture a sliding rack assembly above a removable drip pan directly positioned above the burn chamber in the upper slot that could enable sufficient enough upward heat to cook meats with. The fans in the upper slot are removed and replaced perpendicular and to the sides of the lower slot squeezing then in-between the burn chamber and the face panel. In theory, you can stack two more fans, one additional fan for each side! The extra fans should increase heat sync functionality. The repositioning of these fans reduces their amount of heat exposure to upward heat radiation. The clean air cycling through the heat syncs and out through the upper slot helps the cooking process with heated air as well as upward heat emission from the lower burn chamber. The diverted smoke exhaust system is excellently designed to permit a cooking area without smoke exposure to a fuel source for a cleaner cooking process! If you accomplish this addition and combined it with your real world Minecraft mine cart, you can cook meats while you travel and eat them when you arrive at your destination! I hope you read my comment and improve your design to create a more accurate real life Minecraft furnace. You've done great so far. Keep up the good work!"

Hope you continue this series!

Here’s an idea… Make a second cart, use the furnace to hide everything inside, and hook the crankshaft of the steam engine to an alternator, keep the battery as a backup power source, but the alternator will do all the heavy lifting whilst the cart is in motion, much like a car, a voltage regulator to regulate the motor speed, and a coupling between the two carts

This started my yearly 3 week Minecraft binge

The highest temperature observed during the tests was 1921 F. A rocket stove was constructed of sheet metal using a 5”diameter by 12”tall ceramic fiber “riser sleeve” for an insulated chimney. The feed magazine was 3” high by 4 ½” wide with an adjustable flap at the top to control the free air entering above the level of the feed shelf.

simply amazing

Great video!

Amasing video!!! Well two things, nkt sure its good to make the furnance of metal because it will get extremely hot giving enough time, id recommend inside the furnance you can put few layers of isolating ceramic fibers, they are used in foundries should help you not losing much ebergy and not getting burnt :) Secondly you pretty much chose the hardest way to start a real coal fire by blowing it with a torch, charcoal is easy to start from a fire or a torch, but coal is easy to light with coal, so try making a small fire oit of wood (maybe with charcoal) let it die out but be suoer hot, and put coal over it and start to blow, should take about 2 minutes and the coal will start burning :)