[Stoves] Improve gas burners efficiency?

[Ron Larson]

A D:

    Can you provide more data on the optimum gap width for your Serai cooker?  

Ron

Sent from my iPad

On Jul 31, 2011, at 12:19 AM, Anand Karve <adkarve at gmail.com> wrote:

> Dear Xavier,
> we have worked with skirtings around pots. They work best, if they are
> pot-specific. Our Sarai cooker uses just 100 g charcoal to cook rice,
> beans and vegetables (or meat) for a family of 4 to 5 persons. The
> entire cooker is surrounded by a stainless steel sleeve, which directs
> the hot flue gases to flow through the gap between the cooker and the
> sleeve. The efficiency of the cooker is increased because all the flue
> gases remain in contact with the entire outer surface of the cooker.
> If the cooker is used without this jacket, it requires at least 4
> times as much fuel to cook the same quantity of food. Jackets can be
> designed for pots in restaurants, where they generally have a standard
> pot for each function (a specific pot for rice, another for
> vegetables, and still another for deep frying etc.) But in a
> household, where the housewife may be using at least 20 to 30 pots of
> different sizes, it would cost a lot of money to make sleeves for each
> pot.
> Yours
> A.D.Karve
> On Sat, Jul 30, 2011 at 2:59 AM, Xavier Brandao <xvr.brandao at gmail.com> wrote:
>> Dear stovers,
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> When promoting the institutional rocket stoves in public administrations
>> kitchens, restaurants, hotels in South Benin, mostly in the cities of
>> Cotonou and Porto-Novo, I am told more than once that wood is not used
>> anymore, because of the smoke, the cost, or the hassle. Many moved to gas
>> burners, which is of course great. We produce and sell wood stoves, but we
>> always encourage people to use gas cookers, because they are cleaner, more
>> ecological and economical. We only produce wood stoves for people who would
>> have use wood for cooking anyway (for certain dishes, certain quantities, or
>> in certain big institutions).
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> Many people liked the sturdy design of the stoves and asked if they could
>> have the same for gas stoves. I always reply that is was designed for wood
>> only, and promise we’ll think about a model for gas burners.
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> My question is: how much can a gas burner be improved in terms of energy
>> efficiency? Is it worth spending metal in making a skirt around the burner
>> and the pot? I was thinking also of a surface under the burner, perhaps just
>> like the institutional stoves, made of a mix of clay, to radiate heat
>> upwards. It would give a traditional look to a modern cooking device.
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> My quick calculations showed it could cost in the very very worst case up to
>> 30 000 CFA francs all included (about 45 euros) for a skirt for one burner.
>> People seem to be ready to pay that, if it means savings. A lady who runs a
>> restaurant paid a welder 60 000 CFA for two skirts, which amusingly enough
>> is in line with my calculations. They are not made yet, I’m curious to see
>> how they look.
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> Here is a picture of the burners:
>> 
>> http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/803/rimg1222.jpg/
>> 
>> Another burner, inserted in a truck rim:
>> 
>> http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/834/rimg1229.jpg/
>> 
>> Here is a picture of a small burner, with a small skirt which only protects
>> the flame from wind, not the pot:
>> 
>> http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/38/rimg1228.jpg/
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> I’ve searched a bit on Bioenergylist, and in Micro Gasification Cooking with
>> gas from biomass, I could only find the Vesto stove as a gas stove with a
>> skirt.
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> This post brings another question, which I will detail in another issue.
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> Thanks in advance,
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> Xavier
>> 
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>> 
>> 
> 
> 
> 
> -- 
> ***
> Dr. A.D. Karve
> President, Appropriate Rural Technology Institute (ARTI)
> 
> *Please change my email address in your records to: adkarve at gmail.com *
> 
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