Design Princples for Wood Burning

Cook Stoves
The Dr Winiarski Rocket Stove
 Insulated low mass combustion
chamber
 Internal shelf allows sticks to
form a grate. Stick/air/stick/air
 Small amount of high velocity
air is drawn under the coals
and the wood ‘grate’ which
improves air to fuel mixture
 Stove power is controlled by
regulating the fuel supply not
the air intake
 Horizontal feed chamber is
convenient
 X

Basic Rocket
Stove Geometry

1.5-2X

Total Height =
X + (1.5Xor2X) + 5 cm

Min 2x
Ten Design Principles:
Principle One
“Whenever possible, insulate
around the fire using lightweight,
heat-resistant materials.”

 Insulation around the fire keeps

it hot which reduces smoke
 Insulation around the fire keeps
the heat from going into the
stove body instead of pot
Ten Design Principles: Principle
One (Cont…)

 If possible, avoid heavy

materials like sand, clay, and
cement.
 Metal is better than heavy
material above (less thermal
mass) but does not last very
long near hot fire.
 Heat resistant insulated
material are best
Ten Design Principles: Principle
Two
“Place an insulated short chimney right above the
fire.”
 a short insulated chimney right above fire
forces mixing of flames and smoke which
burns up the harmful smoke.

 The short chimney above the fire

increases the speed of the air drawn into
the fire which helps the fire to burn hotter.

 Forcing the hot gases to scrape past the

pot at a high speed helps to heat up the
food more quickly while using less fuel.
Ten Design Principles: Principle
Three
“Heat and burn the tips of the sticks as they enter the fire.

 If only the wood that is

burning is hot there will be
much less smoke.
 The goal is to make the
proper amount of gas so
that it can be cleanly burned
without making charcoal or
smoke.
Ten Design Principles: Principle
Four
“High and low heat are created by how many sticks
are pushed into the fire.”

 Adjust the amount of gas

made and fire created to
suit the cooking task.
(Wood gets hot and
releases gas. The gas
catches fire and makes
heat.)

Low Heat High Heat

Ten Design Principles: Principle
Five
“Maintain a good fast draft through the burning fuel.
 Just as blowing on a fire and
charcoal can make it hotter,
having the proper amount of
draft will help to keep high
temperatures in your stove.
 A hot fire is a clean fire.
 The wind passing through the
coals helps to raise the
temperature of the fire so that
all the gases become flame.
Ten Design Principles: Principle
Six
“Too little draft being pulled into the fire will result in
smoke and excess charcoal.”
 If a lot of charcoal is being
made by the fire then there is
too little air entering the
combustion chamber.
 A fire that makes a lot of
charcoal is producing too much
harmful carbon monoxide.
 A hot clean burning fire will not
make much charcoal as it is
being used. Make sure that
enough air is freely flowing
under the fire into the coals
Ten Design Principles: Principle
Seven
“The opening into the fire, the size of the spaces within the
stove through which hot air flows, and the chimney should all
be about the same size. This is called maintaining constant
cross-sectional area

 Good draft not only keeps the fire hot; it is also

essential so that the hot air created by the fire can
effectively transfer its heat into the pot.
 Air does not carry very much energy, so a lot of it
needs to go through the stove in order to accomplish
the task of heating food or water.
Ten Design Principles: Principle
Eight
“Use a grate under the fire.”
 Do not put the sticks on the
floor of the combustion
chamber. Air needs to pass
under the burning sticks, up
through the charcoal, and into
the fire.
 A shelf in the stove opening
also lifts up sticks so air can
pass underneath them.
Ten Design Principles: Principle
Nine
“Insulate the heat flow path.”
 If the heat goes into the body of
the stove, the pot boils less
quickly.
 Using insulative materials in the
stove keeps the flue gases hot
so that they can more
effectively heat the pan
Ten Design Principles: Principle
Ten
“Maximize heat transfer to the pot with
properly sized gaps.”
 Getting heat into pots or
griddles is best done with
small channels.
 gap too large: hot flue gases
mostly stay in the middle of
the channel and do not pass
their heat to the desired
cooking surface.
 Gap too small: the draft
diminishes, causing the fire to
be cooler, the emissions to go
up, and less heat to enter the
pot.
Optimising heat transfer
 Maximize the
surface area
where the hot
flue gases touch
the pot
Rocket stove heat exchanger/skirt

 Ensure the correct gap

between the pot and the
stove body (for average
household pots, 7-10 mm is
good rule of thumb)
 Make the skirt as tall as
feasibly possible
 Gap ‘D’

Gap‘A’
Gap‘ B’

Gap ‘C’
 Gap ‘D’

Gap‘A’
Gap‘ B’

Gap ‘C’

 To calculate gap A ( between the top of the combustion gap A = Area of feed chamber
chamber and the pot) Perimeter of feed chamber

 To calculate gap B ( between the pot and the gap B = Area of feed chamber
outer edge of the combustion chamber) Perimeter of outer feed chamber = [(D+10 cm]
*3.14)

 To calculate gap C (under the outer edge of the pot gap C = Area of feed chamber
and the stove body) Circumference Pot  

 To calculate gap D (between the sides of the pot gap D = gap C * 0.75
and the stove body)
Pumice insulation

 Can calculate density (g/cc) or test to see if the

mixture floats . Yes? Then less than 1 g/cc
 A very light insulative mixture 4 g/cc (ideal for
top plate)
 .6 -.8g/cc ideal for combustion chamber above
abrasion points ( i.e above feed chamber)
Move to Stove Performance Test