Rocket stoves are small efficient stoves that can produce a hot flame with only a few small pieces of wood. The reason it is called a rocket stove is because when wood is added to the fire the flames create an internal draft. As the draft is created, the fire begins to produce a jet of fire coming through the stove pipe. The stove flame eventually becomes so hot that it produces very little smoke. The stove should be able to produce a hot continuous flame that will lick the bottom surface of a pot or pan placed on top of the stove.
These stoves were created out of necessity in third world countries to cook small meals and have recently become more popular as a do-it-yourself camping stove. A rocket stove is usually made from readily available materials that can be recycled for reuse. To make a large stove, it is not unusual for the outside shell of the stove to be made from an old propane tank, Freon tank, or air compressor tank. To complete the following instructions for making a rocket stove, experience in welding and metalworking is needed as this project requires a great deal of it.
These stoves were created out of necessity in third world countries to cook small meals and have recently become more popular as a do-it-yourself camping stove. A rocket stove is usually made from readily available materials that can be recycled for reuse. To make a large stove, it is not unusual for the outside shell of the stove to be made from an old propane tank, Freon tank, or air compressor tank. To complete the following instructions for making a rocket stove, experience in welding and metalworking is needed as this project requires a great deal of it.
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Changes may be made to the materials in the schematic according to personal preference or based on availability of materials. Materials for fabricating stove legs are not present because many different configurations may be acceptable. Any design may be accepted for personal preference, as long as it is able to support at least 100lbs and withstand high temperatures for this model.
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Thanks.
I would caution all against using vermiculite as insulation for something like this. Vermiculite has a small amount of asbestos in it. Not a good thing to be releasing into the immediate environment where you might inhale in into your lungs.
Cheers!
I thank you for sharing Sir, I love this thing!!!
See the 'Ten Design Principles'
The Rocket stove was invented by Dr Winiarski at the Aprovecho Research Centre.
References
Design Principles for Wood Burning Cook Stoves
http://bioenergylists.org/stovesdoc/Pcia/Design%20Principles%20for%20Wood%20Burning%20Cookstoves.pdf
Designing Improved Wood Burning Heating Stoves
http://bioenergylists.org/stovesdoc/apro/Heat/Heating%20Stoves%20LO-RES.pdf
The addition of a removable platform plate in the feed tube helped it to function like a rocket stove so that a draft could go underneath long sticks, and the material burned hotter and more efficiently with even less smoke. The inner chamber was added to the stove so that after getting some hot coals in the chamber from burning sticks, charcoal could be added to the chamber if forging applications were desired.
Also, thank you for the references they were great to look at.
I made something similar, to melt aluminum which used a hair dryer to create the air blast, instead of convection.
The problem I had - sparks coming out the top. No smoke, but LOTS of sparks. I deemed my project a failure due to the fire risk. I never got to melt aluminum with it. :( I toasted a few marshmallows with it, though.
Based on your experiences with this type of stove, which is a sort of "self-blasted" furnace, please comment on these questions:
1. How did you address the spark issue? Does it make many sparks?
2. Have you checked for sparks AT NIGHT when you can see them up in the sky?
Thanks!
I agree with what rallen71366 said, using uncompressed charcoal briquettes make great heat.
If you have access to knot-free hardwood, and a method to cut it into fist sized chunks, you might investigate making your own charcoal.
The old steam locomotives used "spark catchers" to keep from setting everything ablaze. I believe it was just a heavy gauge screen, across the exhaust stack, and far enough from the burner to keep from melting.
The gasses are recirculated into the fire in a manner that there is enough heat and oxygen present to ignite the remaining flammable gasses left in the inital burn smoke. When those gasses and particulates ignite it burns away the majority of the normally wasted material and produces an extremely efficient and hot fire with less material.
Why not vermiculite or perlite? If it was to insulate then perlite or vermiculite would work better.
Ash seems to work well too. Sand would just seem to add extra unneeded weight. Perlite, vermiculite, or ash would all reduce the weight of the finished project.
A quick question, most of the designs I have seen have a platform for holding the fuel off the bottom of the feeder which allows the air to pass unobstructed under the fuel to feed the flame, not necessary?
Also have you seen the gravity fed fuel hoppers where you can drop sticks down and the tips slowly burn, apparently good for controlling the speed of the burn. Is that something you considered for this build and dismised, or is it very difficult to get set up correctly?
I have seen some filled with concrete + vermiculite/perlite mix. Seems like a lot more work than just filling with perlite but might hold the bits in places better.
I like this and I have access to a scrap metal dealer and a welding set.
If anyone needs me this weekend I will be in the Emergency Department.
I recently made a removable feeder-platform plate and it made it easier to burn longer sticks and scrap woood.
Also I had considered the angled fuel hopper but decided against it due to the fact that sometimes I may want the stove to function more like a melting forge than a stove, and the angle may make it harder to pump air into the inner chamber.
Might I suggest that you use only three legs as the fourth leg makes anything (stool, table etc) wobble.
Obviously make them equi-distant (120 degrees) apart.
Same for the pot supports, just use three instead of four.
...Todd
http://www.instructables.com/id/Rocket-Grill/
A friend of mine builds a lot of rocket stoves and wood gasifiers and LOVES using old propane tanks. They are nice metal, well-suited for projects like these.
I wonder, though, at the use of sand to fill the void between the shell & the combustion chamber. If perlite, vermiculite or some other type of lightweight & non-combustible insulation were used instead, the resulting structure would not be as top-heavy, have greater insulating effects and less heat transfer to the outer shell, which would lessen the risk of burns to the user.
See Kelly Kettles for details
http://kellykettle.com/
Reading your intro I understant why my stove "roars".