Rocket Stove Charcoal Retort

[Turtle]

Originally Posted by Fukudairafarm

Wow Turtle, looks great! I would like to try building one of those as well.
I wonder how long it would take to boil a litre of water.... I sense an experiment in the works...

Thanks. I am as much excited that I have a simple, easy to make, and portable camp stove, as I am to have a little charcoal maker.

The problem with boiling the water on this size stove it seems is refueling, as one charge wasn't enough to boil 2 cups (~1/2 liter) as in my video clip. Refuel too early or add too much fuel and the stove gets smoky and cools before the new fuel heats. Wait too long to refuel and the stove goes out with a poof of smoke when all that's left is charcoal.

Part of my heating the pan problem I think is the result of the angle metal I used to raise the pan was blocking an even airflow to the intake ports; as soon as I put the pan on the stove the fire started smoking some. A little redesign there and the addition of a 'blow tube' for adding extra air when needed ought to shape things up.

I am already designing in my head a way to make the ports so I get votices in the intake chamber as well as the firebox. That's all I got for now; thanks for the interest.

[Turtle]

Originally Posted by Turtle

... A little redesign there and the addition of a 'blow tube' for adding extra air when needed ought to shape things up.

Went to harware store for a little piece of 3/8" copper pipe; freakin' $2 a linear foot!!! What's more, they had it only in 10 foot lengths. No beer the rest of the month now.

I'll cut a short piece and run it from an intake hole on the top plate and down beneath the burner, and make the top end flared. When I want to add air, I'll use a separate 3/8" copper tube with one end tapered and the other with a vinyl tube attached and nest in in the flare (like a jet refuels) and blow.

I can use this when starting as well as when I add fuel.

All holes I drilled are 3/8", so if need be we have good figures for all duct cross sections for comparison & analysis. Right now the intake ports in the plate equal less area than the intake through the bottom of the burner box.

Anyway, off to fabricate.

PS Perhaps I can add large loose chunks of wood in the lower half of the cavity between the burner and the main body and make charcoal of it? Dry it at least.

My intention is to make all the parts small enough to fit in the large can so I can put the plastic cover on & carry it in a pack. This will reduce the space it uses, keep the smoke odor down, and allow me to carry it precharged with a load of fuel.

[Turtle]

Originally Posted by Turtle

...My intention is to make all the parts small enough to fit in the large can so I can put the plastic cover on & carry it in a pack. This will reduce the space it uses, keep the smoke odor down, and allow me to carry it precharged with a load of fuel.

The video of my stove has garnered over 1,000 views, and about 1/2 a dozen comments.

First, my stove is not a 'rocket stove', as they have a side port for loading fuel which also serves as an air intake. I have changed the title to call it a wood-gasifier stove.

Second, the commentors seem to think I need holes in the big can, inspite of my explanations why this is not desirable. In short, and again, I want the outer can weatherproof, sealable, and containing all the stove parts, so I can use it as a camp stove.

I am now making modifications and when I get it ready I plan to weigh a load of wood, run the burn cycle, and then weigh the charcoal I recover before I sequester it in my garden. Here's that video again, but you have to search it's title at Youtube to see the comments as near as I have figured.

YouTube - Coffee can wood-gasifier stove

[Turtle]

Originally Posted by Turtle

...I am now making modifications and when I get it ready I plan to weigh a load of wood, run the burn cycle, and then weigh the charcoal I recover before I sequester it in my garden.

OK My blow-tube idea to get the fire going while the stove is all together worked poorly. However, once the fire is going good in the burner box, it burns with little to no smoke once it is placed in the outer liner, and continues until the wood is charcoalized. No reason for a new video, as the process looks the same as that I posted.

I loaded the burner with 120 grams of wood, a mix of luan mahogany and Oregon ash, and retrieved 16.75 grams of beautiful charcoal for the garden after the burn.

[DougF]

Very cool Turtle,

but I have to ask where/how do you find the time?

[Turtle]

Originally Posted by DougF

Very cool Turtle,

but I have to ask where/how do you find the time?

I don't know if the question is rhetorical or not, so I'll just answer it. You work a lifetime for other people until your body & mind are so screwed up you can't work anymore, and the government delares you unfit & gives you the time to enjoy your pain & enough money to enjoy it in poverty. No reasons not to try & do something productive with trash though.

[Turtle]

I'm always on the hunt for good trash, and last Christmas I scored a nice steel drum that I set aside for another possible charcoal stove. Anyway, I got around to messing with it and here is what I found. This is a Heineken mini-keg for beer, capacity 5 litres (1.33 gallon), it is steel, 6" diameter & ~9" tall. I pulled out the spout leaving a 1" hole, and inside I could see a white cylinder, too big to fit out the hole. Cutting open the end, I took out the cylinder measuring 1 3/4" diameter & 5 3/4" high, and made of aluminium. Tearing apart the little cylinder, I found inside...charcoal!!! What a coinkydink.

The big can says patented pressurization, so I suspect the charcoal keeps the gas, most likely CO2, from liquifying? In any case, given this is a food 'additive', the charcoal is surely activated charcoal.

Here's the goods.

[Ahmabeliever]

"I don't know if the question is rhetorical or not, so I'll just answer it. You work a lifetime for other people until your body & mind are so screwed up you can't work anymore, and the government delares you unfit & gives you the time to enjoy your pain & enough money to enjoy it in poverty. No reasons not to try & do something productive with trash though."

AMEN!

Though my poverty is self induced spending all my money on bits for mad schemes... And I'm only 40, stuff it, my life! Now I work for myself and take all the time I want to do the things I want, provided the bills are paid who has the right to complain?

I said at 20 I'm retiring now, PLAN PLAN PLAN! I do work part time on variuos shows - because I love it...

Sorry Turtle....

Love the stove too, excellent, I spend a lot of time in the bush I'm going to make myself one of those.

[Turtle]

Originally Posted by Ahmabeliever

...
Love the stove too, excellent, I spend a lot of time in the bush I'm going to make myself one of those.

Minimalist multifunctionism is my mantra.

I received another comment today on the video at YouTube, and again it was to say I need holes in the bottom of the can. I posted a link to this thread as a video comment; maybe I can straighten the issue out and coax some new memberage.

So, for one, as a camp stove I want no holes in the outer can because without them, when I put the plastic lid on, then it's weatherproof. I would recommend precharging it with tinder, kindling, and the main fuel load before going afield, and if time & condition permits in the field, recharging it when finished and before storage.

Second, having the fresh air intakes on the top puts them directly in line with the wood gas intakes and I think develops a better flow of the mixed gas down to the burner box intake. Also, having the air intakes on the top plate pre-warms the fresh intake air.

That's a wrap; We do what we can.

[Ahmabeliever]

Asked how the stoves going today. It's not, for now. Learning a lot though, and talking with local people about TP.

Feeling the financial pinch lately (not the only one it seems) so funds are a problem. Glad I'm involved in projects to put food on the table.


Working hard on a completed project to bring that to market. This to make money to spend on tinkering with TP.

If I get a bone I might bury it a while but I'll be back to worry at it.