Paint Can Wood Gas Stove Optimization! Wood Gas Stove Science| Making a good stove GREAT! Part 5!

[@billpowell7750]

I am sure you are right about the importance of the combustion area in the pot stand. It must mix secondary or even tertiary air very well into the flame without cooling it. So pre-heating some extra air should help. But my efforts too often seem to reduce not increase the air entering the flame. Congratulations on your progress on this without using a fan. I think it is cheating to use a fan. But how is the bottom of your pot? That is a good clue about how completely the pyrolysis gas is burned.

[@heathputnam9524]

Still a little soot, but minimal. Thanks for the comment!

[@bettebette9881]

From last video: 1:34 flame concentrator ixnay 3/16 to 1/4 inch on secondary holes pot stand not helping new one taller added 16 holes 5/15 around bottom all vortex tweak same direction as top 8 4:33 22:00 mins of burn time with 1 c pellets 5:53 new inner can honorary holes on outside --- This vid: Protestant integral part of design

[@heathputnam9524]

Thanks for watching!

[@jasonjohnson6344]

I’ve watched this entire series and appreciate your experimentation. I’ve built a bunch of various copies of this general design, including a gallon paint can. I’ve never had a clue about the math/ratio you included in your experiments. The gallon size works very well with sticks stacked vertically on initial startup but eventually you have to randomly toss in small pieces. I have also had great results when I add blocky chunks once the first vertical load has burned down. I figured it was because of the generous amount of air flow between the blocks. I’ve used pellets too and like them for their simplicity but I think they can create air restriction too. It was nice to see how this stage in your experiments gave some blue flame and I would love to see you tweak this to get the blue flame more consistently. I’ve watched many different builders on KZbin and these stoves but yours are on a much higher level. I copied several alcohol/can stoves too until I saw a particular design that excelled and after copying it, I love it. I will definitely be taking advantage of the experimentation and explanations on your research and I much appreciate your sharing it with everyone. I’ll be following your progress. Thanks. 👏👍

[@heathputnam9524]

Thanks for the comments!

[@billpowell7750]

I saw how the stove has to heat up before you get secondary air burn. I find I can shorten this time if I line the inside of the outer can with aluminum foil. It is an excellent heat reflector. The foil can be like sold to bake a big bird, or a Chinese take-away puts your rice into. Alternatively you can crunch up two or three layers of kitchen foil, put them together and roll them with a rolling pin, but not too tightly. Then the trapped air becomes an additional insulator.

[@heathputnam9524]

I’ll give the insulation a try. Thanks for the comments and ideas! They help out tremendously!

[@robertjolliffe2612]

Great videos. Australia

[@heathputnam9524]

Thanks for watching!

[@bjornjohansson4911]

Dear sir. Many, many thanks for all efforts. We have learned a lot by firing the same amount of pellets, in different oxygen feeds, as well as the power control, I suggested some months ago. My interrest is to save life in disaster situations, as well as to save fuel in the third world, by firing more effectively. You are close to a very success. The wholly grail, would of course be just hot blue flames, as from a dedicated propan burner, but solid fuels contains a versatile of components, that makes it a lot more complicated. Truly, it is almost impossible to get much closer to perfection, than those of yours. They are scientifically compared, at the same amount of pellets, and they produce different flame behaviors. What is not tried are different amount of fuel, as well as comparing twig-cuts, contra pellets, but that is a another question. But before such tries, I want to complicate the basics some more. This genre of "wood-gas"-stoves are only partably aware of the complexity of solid wood burning. I will tell: I happened to meet a temporary colleague, that had worked professionally at serving big burners in the passed, and I happaned to discuss an idea of making a kerosene lamp burner into a heat-power unit, and discussed primary, and seccondary air intakes, though I have burnt diesel into a real power source, with no smoke. However, he explained, what I had got wrong. What I had thought, was the primary intake, was really the secondary, and what I hade thought was the secondary, was really the tertially, and so on. So in my opinion about woodgas, we are using the primary, and the tertial air intake, and not use the secondary to infuse some oxygen to improve the pyrolysis. In my experimental tries about the one flat wick kerosene burner, it delivered a ten to twentyfold more output, by a clean, blue-green flame. This was before my colleague told what I really had used. The area relationship: P=1 of primary, secondary-tertial is hard to tell in the kerosene/diesel case, but I would guess: P=1. S=0,7, T=0,4 . This is a wild guess. Anyway it burns super. The project still lives in summer-sleep. Interpreted into wood burning, I would suggest trying primary somewhat below original primary. Say approx 0,8-1 area. The secoondary intake, located somewhere over the gasification zone, but quite close to it. My guess is that the tertial would be some 1 to 1,5 diameter above the fuels, and the secondary no more than 0,3 of diameter from the fuel top, or even closer. Anyhow. Pyrolyses, of wood fuel, is a lot more complicated, than for kerosene and diesel, but I am convinced that some air injection in the pyrolyze section may benefit the combustion severally. Did I kill your efforts? Sorry, if that. Best wishes.

[@bumboclat]

Congrats on the boil time record! For me, I have just stopped taking my propane camping stove into the woods, it's just too bulky. I much rather take a woodgas stove that I can fill with smaller items.

[@heathputnam9524]

I actually carry some wood pellets and mix them in with natural sticks! Thanks for watching!

[@Ajantha-l3k]

Try with a center cilinder with hols, it Will suply air from inside too.

[@melissahoffman4687]

Great job Heath! I love how the flame concentrator created a vortex looking flame. I also love how the pot stand makes the flames a little bit more blue! :)

[@heathputnam9524]

Thanks!

[@stevenrobertson4470]

I have a couple of ideas to try. A hotter burn chamber with hotter primary and secondary air could be achieved by having an outer can with holes near the top; Air would flow through and down to pass through holes near the bottom then separate between primary and secondary air. Secondary air would travel up between burn chamber and middle wall and into the burn chamber. Primary air would enter through a hole in the center and have to go around an ash pan (similar to the solo stove design). The idea is that the burn chamber is double insulated from losing heat out the sides and bottom by air entering and being warmed through two passes between layers. I'm not sure how much improvement you'd see, but it would be an interesting experiment!

[@heathputnam9524]

So adding a third can? Let me know how it works! Thanks for watching!

[@stevenrobertson4470]

@@heathputnam9524 it's the idea of the calorimeter... The additional length of pathway in the air space between cans not only heats the air as it comes into primary and secondary air supply, but it also insulates the burn chamber making it burn hotter. You said that if your viewers had ideas for you to try out, viewers could make suggestions. That's mine for what it's worth. I plan to try it out some time in the near future.

[@heathputnam9524]

Sounds very promising!

[@Bozemanjustin]

I've grown up watching people on TV do things, like starting a fire by rubbing sticks together, or people warning you be careful that an ember doesn't pop out of your fire, and start Forest ablaze. I always found it impossible to start a fire by rubbing sticks together, and I've never once accidentally started the woods on fire. Turns out those things don't apply in South Florida LOL. Nothing! Is dry here. Our big rule with fires down here, find yourself some lighter knot. AKA pine tree that's old and has all the resin. You can literally pull one out of a pond, chop it up and light a fire with a match.

[@heathputnam9524]

Yeah, definitely depends where you are. In AZ you can get stopped by the DOT for having your trailer chains dragging. I guess the sparks have cause many fires in the past!

[@randomlife718]

Justin, rubbing sticks together in north FL hasn't done anything for men either. I done have the right trees around me. Wild fires still happen though.

[@oxxnarrdflame8865]

@@heathputnam9524 oh yeah they can. A few years ago a dragging chain started multiple fires along I5 in Oregon.

[@heathputnam9524]

No joke!

[@melissahoffman4687]

Another thing you can do to reduce the soot on the bottom of the pot is by making the bottom holes of the gasifier as large as the flame adjuster holes. It may work. :)

[@heathputnam9524]

Thanks for the comment!

[@Ajantha-l3k]

👍 Your pot holder has a rim. It traps some carbon dioxide gas layer between the flame and the pot. Therefore, there is a thermal insulation between the flame and the bottom of the pot. Remove the rim.

[@aparecidomiranda6637]

Ótimo vídeo Parabéns 👍🇧🇷

[@heathputnam9524]

Obrigado pelo comentário!

[@fred-san]

with a 2nd vortex in place of burner

[@heathputnam9524]

Thanks for watching!

[@glennlopez6772]

Thanks for the video! It would be nice if you had a sketch or a pdf sketch of the cross section of the stove. It doesn't have to be perfect! The dimensions, numbering and the height of the positions of the holes or slots and their dimensions. Perhaps you could get better feedback! The electric home popcorn maker in use, displays a clear swirling motion of the contents! It has the simplest fan or turbine or whatever you may call it at the bottom. Just one row of those skewed slots lifts the corn or peanuts in a swirl. I would have made those slots and skewed them just the way you did! Of course I learnt this from the popcorn maker! Hope you sense that you are getting closer to your goal. About the fuel pellets, are they made from wood along with the bark? Doesn't using the bark cause soot and a dirty yellow flame?

[@heathputnam9524]

Thanks for watching, the pellets are made from finely ground up wood, and probably includes some bark. They seem very efficient and as to see in the videos, they do not cause any smoke once the design is optimized.

[@cmcas]

Love your vids. I was thinking about going the alcohol stove route, but tiny alcohol stoves just won't cut it for my needs. Also alcohol, where I'm from, isn't cheap. Kerosene is a bit messy with all the wicks. Do you think you could somehow apply these principals to a Kerosene stove\burner? Obtain that swirling vortex? For a situation where I can't find dry wood or something, like camping at a beach.

[@heathputnam9524]

I have not tried it, but it might work! Thanks for watching!

[@cmcas]

Okay. I just wanted to add, have you considered adding an additional chimney, just above the concentrator plate, with holes in it? I think it'll probably turn the stove into a blowtorch. Lol.

[@joancandalino8742]

Looking good! Have you tried it with sticks?

[@heathputnam9524]

Soon my friend, soon! Thanks for the comments!

[@jayhill6996]

Enjoying your work. I am working on gasifying cardboard as fuel source. Any thoughts? Not very web savvy, so I am not even sure how I would be able to correspond, but certain you are the right guy to ask for any insight you may have to offer. Great work, keep it up.

[@heathputnam9524]

Cardboard should work, the toughest part is reducing it down so there is more fuel and less empty space in the burn chamber. If you need any advice or insight just contact me through comments in these videos. That way everyone will learn something! Probably mostly me! Thanks for watching!

[@kevinglore8213]

If you're still out there perhaps share info my elevation is 748'