[Stoves] Why not high mass stoves?

[Michael N Trevor]

Dear Bodie 

Thanks for the succinct summery---

Michael N Trevor
Marshall Islands

From: Bodie Cabiyo 
Sent: Sunday, November 02, 2014 3:51 PM
To: Discussion of biomass cooking stoves 
Subject: Re: [Stoves] Why not high mass stoves?

Hi Huck,  

I've been working on adapting high-mass stoves to have better thermal efficiency because of that very article. 

Simply put, the problem is with the specific heat of the insulating material. True, high-mass materials like earth or sand have insulative value, but they have very high specific heat and thus absorb much of the heat that would go into a cooking vessel. In contrast, sheet metal has a low specific heat, so it absorbs relatively little thermal energy to reach a maximum temperature, after which point you're only heating the air surrounding the stove. Air, of course, has very low specific heat and thus it takes very little energy to warm the air immediately next to the stove body (though it would be more ideal to trap a layer of air so that you're not continually heating new air). 

Hope this helps! 
Bodie

-- 


Bodie Cabiyo 


Professional: carbonalternatives.org
Personal: concentricchange.wordpress.com

Food for Thought:
"A mountain is composed of tiny grains of earth. The ocean is made up of tiny drops of water. Even so, life is but an endless series of little details, actions, speeches, and thoughts. And the consequences whether good or bad of even the least of them are far-reaching."
- Sri Swami Sivananda



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