[Stoves] Effect of mixing sugar and clay?

[Stephen Joseph]

Have a look at the Chemistry of Maillard reactions between sugars and
proteins in clays.

This could be a mechanism that is taking place.

Note Light in South Africa makes butenolide that can help germination
and nutrient uptake in plants

Regards
Stephen Joseph

On Wed, Jan 18, 2012 at 8:15 AM, Marc Pare <mpare at gatech.edu> wrote:
> Hi all,
>
> Does anyone know why folks recommend mixing sugar/molasses with clay when
> making rocket stoves?
>
> I keep running into this advice, but haven't found a satisfying explanation.
> Some stories:
>
> * Jon and Flip mention it in the build instructions of a rocket stove on
> their new site. Some friends of mine just tried it in Cameroon, and it seems
> to work. They didn't have a supply of sugar, though. So they soaked +
> squeezed some bananas instead.
>
> * In rural Vietnam, a brick kiln engineer explained to me that they lined
> the inside of kilns with a traditional refractory material consisting of
> clay + rice hull ash + molasses.
>
> * While talking to some old colleagues, I heard that old moonshine stills in
> Georgia used to have a clay + sugar mix to seal pipe connections (very much
> word of mouth, could have been inaccurate)
>
> * Apparently, in construction, you can retard the setting of concrete by
> pouring Coca Cola onto it while it's wet. Useful if a truck gets stuck in
> traffic when you're halfway through a pour.
>
> Does anyone know what effect the sugar actually has? Does it just retard the
> setting of the clay? Or does it help improve the material properties? (or
> does retarding its setting improve material properties when it's eventually
> fired?!?)
>
> Best,
>
> Marc Paré
> Georgia Institute of Technology
> http://notwandering.com
>
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