You did great, Big Al. People will configure this system to accomplish whatever they wish, in whatever way they wish,
should they decide to use it.
The rocket stove we built is the heart of a bigger, adaptable system we envisioned. We're looking to do more than just gasify with it, which is why we built it modular to accept different flue stack configurations. Pull the gasifier portion off and snap a
water heater or boiler into place, or a cooktop, or whatever else we or you can come up with.
The gasifier is pretty much a done deal at this point. There are downsides to it, like consuming fuel to power the rocket stove instead of making the wood to be gasified provide its own heat, which is probably more efficient. But, this method will also allow the gasification of feedstock other than wood without difficulty. It may not be right for every situation, especially if one has access to a lot of wood. It'll be just another tool available in the toolbox. People will have to choose the right tool for the job at hand in whatever situation they find themselves in.
This will absolutely be made open source before we begin selling: blueprints, materials list, and building instructions, from the rocket stove to the modular attachments. Anyone who has the building skills, or can pay a
local craftsman to build it for them, will be able to do so without me and my partner. I'm betting there are
enough customers in the world for us and whoever else wants to build and sell them sans patents. Our plan to continue our business in the face of competition, should that ever become an issue, is to keep innovating and coming out with new, open source products to assist folks in
energy independence. We are purposefully placing ourselves on fatal ground, as Sun Tzu would put it. Innovate/invent or die. The day we can't invent something to keep ourselves in business is the day we shut down, and rightly so. We've got so many things in mind beyond rocket stoves and heat applications that we'll be hard at this for at least a decade and loving every minute of it. Or, I'm wrong about my belief in open source vs patents and we'll fail and fade away. In the end, though, come what may, for whatever period of time we get to operate, we're determined to have a positive impact on someone's life, however few or many that might be. Right or wrong, I'm walking the walk, here. I've got enough money in savings for another month, then I'll be out. We'll have stoves for me to sell within 2 weeks. Time for me to do or die. I'll take my old job back if I have to, but until that moment I'm 100% committed to this business based on open sourced projects we build. It's possible I'll fall on my rear end and soon, but I have faith that doing the right things will keep me afloat. At worst, I'll take my old job back or grab another, then keep at this at a slower pace.
I'm sorry this whole thread got a bit long. We thought we'd be farther along than we are by now. We're new to this and learning as we go. In the future, we'll wait until we're almost finished with a
project to begin posting so there will not be so long to wait from beginning to completion. This thread is a real world time table of what it took us to get from concept to completed project, or at least the completion of the heart of the system we envision. Immediately after this, it'll be about designing modular applications to go on the stove, some of which we've already begun.
At this point, the stove is blueprinted and ready for precut pieces from a shop. We will assemble the pieces to our final design for sale ourselves. Our stove can and does accept a wide range of material, from wood to woodchips, and everything in between. Different materials lend themselves better or worse for certain applications. A 2X4 3 feet long makes for a lasting fire between refueling, but doesn't obtain max temperature, for instance. Great for cooking or heating, but not so suitable for gasification. Wood chips or small media, on the other hand, make for max heat but not long burn times between refueling. Not as suitable for cooking, but Hell on gasification and
water boiling. Opening and restricting the air intake also make a huge difference in the heat vs longevity of the fire and will allow small media to heat at a lower burn rate, if desired. Not as nice as a big long piece in there, but doable if desired. Small media goes in a "cage" which fits into the fuel feed, BTW.
I'm bouncing off the ceiling because after the stove comes the really cool stuff; the add-on modular units that will change the function of the stove by snapping them into place. The gasifier is one of those modular units I'm excited about, but there are others as well. It took a long time to get the stove right so it can adjust heat output to the different applications, but we're hoping it was time well spent. And, we're hoping people will find value in it, no matter who builds it for them. My biggest dream is to someday see it in use on the news after a disaster or in a 3rd world country distilling water or providing power for people in need. Money is nice and I need to make a living like everyone else, but that is not what primarily drives my business partner and I.
I'll leave a link to the open source plans as soon as we post them. After that will come plans for the gasifier attachment. You all please feel free to use them or not as you see fit in your individual situations.
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