thomas rubino wrote:Hi Ian; Welcome to Permies!
And Welcome to the wonderful world of rocket science as well!
There is a lot of information to absorb.
Lots of folks have wanted to try heating water. There are ways to do so...
BUT there are ways to get hurt trying it as well!
We call it BOOM SQUISH, water instantly vaporizing to steam ... you don't want to be there.
We always recommend, building a few regular RMH's before trying a more technical build.
Have you got a copy of the RMH builders guide ? Readily available on Amazon.
It is invaluable in the proper construction of an RMH.
Pop on over to the RMH forum and read all about rockets!
We will start turning you into a Rocket Scientist!
I understand instant vaporization in high temperature system, boom squish as you call it, this can happen at ambient temperatures also in negative pressure circumstances known as water knock (damaging pump impellers in water systems), are there any recorded instances of this in a rocket mass heater or stove to refer to ? the reason to exploring this further is that as it is a open loop in order to create a circumstance where pressurization could happen two blockages would be required, one before and one after the coil, if either side of the loop where open then steam generated would push pressure back to the tank which is not sealed. More likely circumstance is the coil is allowed to boil dry and then the copper coil would simply melt. In terms of building systems I am researching multiple designs from very simple rocket stoves and mass heaters to more complex systems as I may have an opportunity to build these units commercially in Africa, it would however make the commercial aspect a great deal easier if the system could provide cooking, heating, refrigeration and hot water. The environmental advantage of a rocket system over charcoal burning which is the current standard is unlikely to open many wallets, the low fuel requirement and options to provide hot water, oven and even absorption refrigeration combination would be much more of a motivation to people. Unfortunately I do not know of much uptake other than wood burner pizza style ovens which take patients to use (pre-heat and wait for embers ect). If boom squish is an unavoidable problem then placing a larger coil in a lower temperature section of the system (inside the thermal mass section for instance) and or perhaps including a pressure relief value maybe a way to go, are there any known examples of this ?
