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Summary
part 1 of a 2 part podcast
Paul has gathered a group of people to talk about rocket heaters.
The focus in this podcast is changes made during a RMH event to the library heater, including ways to make it more efficient when it's not burning.
Previously, there was a bypass to aid lighting and a guillotine to plug the vertical exhaust when you finished burning it. Neither of these things worked well, due to poor human discipline. People would forget to shut the exhaust after burning it, or they'd forget to check it was open when lighting it and fill the place with smoke. They'd also forget to shut the bypass after lighting the fire so the heat went straight up the exhaust and didn't heat the mass.
Both those devices were removed. Peter Van den Berg confirms that he never now builds systems with a bypass.
They also removed the mass pebbles and stones and put in a stratification chamber made from 2 barrels welded together to make one double length barrel. The 8" feed from the rocket stove enters the top and extends about half way along. The 6" exhaust exits at the base of the chamber. Previous experiment with a 4" exhaust on an 8" system wasn't a success.
Isaac and Alex talk about the changes that they made to the library heater. The height of the radiator barrel above the riser was increased from 2" to 4" to aid draft. Also, the exhaust has been moved near to the radiator barrel, so heat from the fire warms the exhaust, which helps drive the gas upwards; they call this "kissing the barrel". Finally, an insulated section was added outside to raise the top of the exhaust above the roof. All of this made the draft better when the fire was alight.
There's also talk of passive plugging. When the fire is out, hot gases sit in the radiator over the riser, and in the top of the stratification chamber. These gases want to stay put so there's less loss of heat up the exhaust, which was the issue that the exhaust plug was supposed to solve. Finally the kiss the barrel effect no longer drives the gases up the exhaust.
Relevant Threads
Rocket Mass Heater forum
pebble style rocket mass heater in the library
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This podcast was made possible thanks to:
Dr. Hugh Gill Kultur
Kyle Neath
Bill Crim
anonymous
Chris Sugg
Kerry JustTooLazy
Jocelyn Campbell
Bill Erickson
Sasquatch
G Cooper
Dominic Crolius
Penny McLoughlin
Mehron Kugler
Pasquale DeAngelis
havokeachday
Julia Winter, world's slowest mosaic artist
Greg Martin
Mark
Sean Benedict
Rita Bliden
Dana Martin
Candace Dahlk
Keith Kuhnsman
Leanne
Eric Tolbert
Nick DePuy
Nathan Hale
Opalyn Rose
Polly Jayne Smyth
Todd Gerardot
Katie Young
Ivar Vasara
Brent Lawson
Weston prestage
Candice Crawford
Chris Holtslag
Song Zheng
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