Bill Fox

Ian: Your input is very much appreciated and valued and I agree that there may be a potential problem with the current combustion chamber design. This whole project is being built in modules that can be changed. The combustion chamber walls will consist of four segments, like your unit. During the first part of testing, the feed tube will not be used and a removable lid will be in its place. Multiple sizes of fuel, from wood chips to split wood will be tried. If this works, then the feed tube will be constructed and installed. If it fails to perform satisfactorily as a rocket, two of these combustion chamber segments can be changed to Prof. Hill's or maybe your design.

The burn tube, riser, and inside part of the heat exchanger are pretty much by the book but could be a problem. The tests will first be without the heat exchanger, then with it in place without the water jacket, then with the water jacket. Smoke, temperature, and wood consumption observations will be recorded.

I don't expect this to reach completion for some time and have the patience to work with it. Fortunately, my old furnace still works and when this new project gets its water jacket, it will be connected to the main hot water storage tank. Will be able to play with it all winter if necessary. Any and all comments appreciated.
Bill

Finally got these drawings uploaded. Sorry for the poor quality but this is my first CAD attempt. Noticed that some of the dimensions ended up showing as feet. They are all inches. Some of the dimensions have changed due to the availability of forms. The feed tube will be made from a 100# propane cylinder and is about 15.1 inches in diameter and will be a little more than 3 feet in height with an airtight lid. The combustion chamber ID is about 15.3 inches. Found a piece of SDR 26 PVC pipe for the form. The combustion chamber OD is about 20.3 inches in diameter, making the wall thickness about 2.5 inches which is what the castable refractory manufacturer hinted at. Will likely cast this in 4 pieces in the next few days. The burn tunnel and riser will have a piece of 8 inch galvanized sheet metal duct, filled with pea gravel for the inside form and will use 12 inch Sonotube for the outside, giving about a 2 inch wall thickness.

Ian: Wonder if you might have any input about the distance between the floor of the combustion chamber and the bottom of the combustion air manifold or the top of the manifold vs the top of the burn tunnel. I've guessed that the top of this manifold should be about even with the top of the burn tunnel. Will keep in mind the idea about forced air entering the manifold.

Michael: Don't know if you noticed but Matt Walker has a website with photos of his commercial rocket woodstove that is in ways similar to what you have. The website is: www.walkerstoves.com He was kind enough to share some of his info with me.

Bill

Drawing 3 attempt #24

Drawing 2, attempt #3

Attempt #5 tonight @ posting drawing.

Checked the size and each one is 576kb--sounds strange that all 3 are the same size to me. Have tried to upload just one and no luck. Have used Internet Explorer, Foxfire, and Google Chrome. I can see the files uploading and after they show 100% I get a message telling me that the server is overloaded or maintenance is being performed. Emailed the files to myself and that works ok. I'm stumped.

Bill

Just can't seem to get these .bmp drawings to load. Am trying to attach them and keep getting the same message after they upload:www.permies.com is currently very busy and can't respond to all requests or is undergoing maintenance. Please try again later. Thank you. This makes propably 35 tries--any suggestions??

Ian: Thanks for the video--very interesting. Yes, I've been trying to upload my drawings for 10 days or so without success. Haven't been able to post writing without the attachments, either. Was wondering if this thread got locked or something. Have contacted a couple of people at Permies about this and am certainly glad to see that you have been able to post. Will try the attachments once again.

Bill

Am new to the composting forum. Would like to make some good quality compost that could be used as a starter for aereated tea. Would like advice on what ratios of the ingredients available to me I should use and maybe some additional additives.

Here's what I have: Lots of hardwood leaves, mostly oak and hickory that I piled up from last fall. These are in piles in some grass but haven't decomposed much, I presume because of lack of nitrogen. I have access to lots of fescue grass that I didn't cut because of ergot toxicity this spring because of damp warm weather--this grass is tall and green. Also have a little fresh cow manure--my cattle are fed organic grass only--no grain, and also minerals and organic kelp meal. Also have maybe 5 gallons of chicken manure, also pastured and chemical-free. Could also scare up some wood chips if needed. Am not sure if water quality is a consideration but have well water that is 82.5 grains per gallon of hardness--mostly magnesium and calcium carbonate.

Would like to end up with about 200-300 lbs or so and, for mixing, have a rear tine tiller as well as a tractor with a front end loader. Any advice warmly welcomed. Thanks much,
Bill

Al: Thanks for the clarification.

Calvin: I made an error in what wrote because obviously I am mathmatically inert-- I wrote: To raise the temperature 100 degrees fahrenheit would require around 1000 BTUs. If my understanding is correct, burning one pound of hardwood can produce around 6,000 BTUs of heat (at 100% efficiency). One handful of wood and.......BOOM!

This should have read to raise the temperature 100 degrees for 100 pounds of water would require 10,000 BTUs; therefore TWO handfuls of wood and........

Bill