Oil Drum Rocket Stove for brewing beer

Hey Permies, I've followed your little community for a while.

I wonder if anyone can help.

I'd like to make a rocket stove from an oil drum.

I have a 100l pot that is perfect for making beer and transferring at and from an esky (cooler) for mashing.

I am confused about how to go about building it though.

I can easily make a hole in the barrel to feed wood into it, but I guess I'm most confused about how the burn chamber needs to be, the size of the channel needed. I'd also like a flue to vent gas up over my house (bungalow) but am unsure of where to place it.

How would I secure the burn chamber inside the drum?

I guess I just need to take a look at some diagrams to get my head around the process, can anyone share some diagraams?

kind regards,

Harry

You've definitely come to the right place. There are lots of resources for the RMH here on permies.  I bet you can find what you're looking for in one of these threads:

Better Wood Heat

Pebble Style Rocket Mass Heater

Earth Friendly Heat Full Event

The Rocket Mass Heater Workshop - This October!

12 RMH Documentary

I wish you the best with your RMH project!

Hi Harry,
I am getting ready for just such a project. I have been scouring the interwebs for ages trying to gather all the useful info.
The best resource I have found so far is the Aprovecho institutional rocket stove plans. There is a YouTube playlist of an example build. While it took some digging, I managed to find a few documents which provide enough details to go forward with my own design and build of the stove. The main issue is that there will always be some customization needed to match your materials and pot along with any other requirements you might have. You can find a lot of info on riser and insulation material choices here on the forums. Also bear in mind the effect of the extreme heat on whatever your pot is made out of. I am planning on coming up with some kind of replaceable diffuser for the top of the riser to prolong the pot life.