[Stoves] Riser Height and a 'Counter-Current' Woodgas Burner - YouTube Vid

Ray Menke ray.menke at gmail.com
Tue Jan 26 15:50:22 CST 2016


On Mon, Jan 25, 2016 at 6:10 PM, Julien Winter <winter.julien at gmail.com> wrote:
> I have posted a video on YouTube on Riser Height and a 'Counter-Current'
> burner that continues on the theme of discussions earlier this month about
> premixed flames.
>
>
>
> https://youtu.be/KzYUzJPM3eQ

Thank you (all) for posting the results of your experiments.  Julien,
I'm wondering why not control your primary air?
 I have always used the same Riser, which is a 7" high steel juice can
4" in diameter wrapped in ceramic wool insulation covered with
aluminium foil.  I attach it to the lid of the TLUD stove as shown
here:  http://imgur.com/DZvnYcK
The hole in the steel lid is 3" and restricts the rising flames and
gas.  I use several methods to control the primary air but the most
important one is the size of the holes in the grate.  The current (and
best) grate is a ten inch carbide saw blade with 1/8" holes.  It was a
worn out blade that I cut notches into so I could bend down the teeth
and fit it into my nine inch stainless steel pot.  The primary air
leading to this grate is controlled with a home-made valve as shown
here:  http://imgur.com/SEf4jRr and http://imgur.com/ClZWY36
I also use a computer fan blowing through the valve at start-up and
sometimes at the end of the burn if I need a bit more cooking time and
am willing to use some of the charcoal.  Usually, after ignition of
the wood, I remove the blower and a minute later I completely close
the primary air valve.
Another control of the primary air is by selecting and loading the
fuel.  Nowadays, I start with about 2" of small charcoal brands (half
done charcoal) followed by 1/2" square by 2" long pieces of hardwood
(oak or mesquite or huisache), topped off with 3" of small slivers of
wood (kindling), followed by a top layer an inch deep of V-slivers of
cardboard and heavy office paper.  A small squirt of alcohol on top of
the paper and the fire is going.  I start the fan and let it run for a
minute or so.  In June of 2013 I documented this stove on YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vHms7E0VAio  The real information is
in the "Show More" part under the video, and in the first 70 seconds
of the video/slide show.  At the end are several minutes of
nothing...no smoke, no excess flames, just boring cooking.  If you
look closely, you can just see a lick of flame near the bottom of the
pot.  I don't expect this stove to have a blue flame, but rather a
long feather of pulsing flame that just reaches the bottom of the pot.
This stove excels at making charcoal.  http://imgur.com/sELiVfS  I
also make charcoal from junk dirty wood (183 fifty-five gallon drums
of wood converted so far), and the half-done brands come from that
process.  At the end of the burn, I remove the burn chamber and dump
the charcoal into a tub of water.  After washing and grinding it makes
very good engine grade charcoal.  After drying, this is stored in
sealed drums for use in small engines.
Things to consider:  Primary air is completely shut off for most of
the burn.  A blower is used at the beginning and at the end,
indicating that perhaps the holes in the grate are small, perfect for
the majority of the burn time.  The small slivers of heavy paper stock
at the top may act as sort of a glowing catalyst,  The old used
stovepipe liner and the riser juice can burn out and are easily
replaced in a few minutes.  The riser is insulated.  (This keeps the
heat in, but does burn out the riser in a short time.)
This stove is based on Paul Anderson's Champion.  I also have one of
his Quad stoves, have worn out Reed's woodgas camp stove, and have had
other little stoves that charge phones, etc., but this stove is the
one I use for almost all of our outdoor cooking and water heating.
On the weekend of Feb 20-21 I will have it on display at the Mother
Earth News Fair in Belton, Tx, along with the charcoal grinder, and a
Honda motorcycle that runs on the charcoal made by the stove.
Julien, do you think I should do away with the juice can, and instead
use a cylinder that extends a couple of inches down into the fuel
container?  (I need to make a new lid, as the old lid has burnt
through.)  With a 9" pot, reduced to 8" with sacrificial liner, should
I make the riser diameter the same 4" or perhaps larger?  Instead of
7" high, reduce the height?  Should I do away with the restriction at
the base of the riser?
Comments?  Ideas?  Criticisms?


-- 
Ray  Menke




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