Rocket stove

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A small manufactured rocket cooking stove Rocket stove.jpg
A small manufactured rocket cooking stove
A rocket stove Grover Rocket Stove.JPG
A rocket stove
Rocket stove illustration Rocket Stove.png
Rocket stove illustration

A rocket stove is an efficient and hot burning stove using small-diameter wood fuel. [1] Fuel is burned in a simple combustion chamber containing an insulated vertical chimney, which ensures almost complete combustion prior to the flames reaching the cooking surface. Rocket stove designs are most often used for portable stoves for cooking but the design is also used for large, fixed stoves in institutions, and to make rocket mass heaters for heating. [2]

Contents

History

A precursor to the rocket stove was the Argand lamp, which was patented in 1780. This was a major development of the traditional oil lamp, which introduced a glass chimney above the flame to increase air-flow. As well as being used for lighting, this design was also used for cooking and for heating water due to its "affording much the strongest heat without smoke." [3]

Larry Winiarski, Technical Director of Aprovecho, began developing the rocket stove in 1980 based on a VITA stove, designed by Sam Baldwin, and rediscovered the principles of the systems developed by the Romans in hypocaust heating and cooking systems. [4] [5] A stove was designed to make tortillas based on the principles of the rocket stove and won an Ashden Award in 2005. [6] Aprovecho won the same award in 2006 for their rocket stoves. Aprovecho rocket stoves were sold in Lesotho, Malawi, Uganda, Mozambique, Tanzania, and Zambia. [7]

Efficiency

Many developing countries use traditional wood fuel stoves without proper ventilation, which produces indoor concentrations of smoke particles "typically 10 to 100 times the long-term levels recommended by the World Health Organization." [8] Chronic exposure to these particles are linked with disease. Rocket stoves are better at combusting the fuel, thus using less fuel and producing less smoke, carbon monoxide, and soot.

In rural Kenya, a comparison of traditional three-stone stoves and rocket mud stoves (RMS) showed that RMS use resulted in a 33% reduction of carbon monoxide production in the kitchen and a 42% reduction in "personal" carbon monoxide production, which was measured with data loggers placed on clothing. [9]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stove</span> Device used to generate heat or to cook

A stove or range is a device that generates heat inside or on top of the device, for -local heating or cooking. Stoves can be powered with many fuels, such as natural gas, electricity, gasoline, wood, and coal.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wood fuel</span> Wood used as fuel for combustion

Wood fuel is a fuel such as firewood, charcoal, chips, sheets, pellets, and sawdust. The particular form used depends upon factors such as source, quantity, quality and application. In many areas, wood is the most easily available form of fuel, requiring no tools in the case of picking up dead wood, or few tools, although as in any industry, specialized tools, such as skidders and hydraulic wood splitters, have been developed to mechanize production. Sawmill waste and construction industry by-products also include various forms of lumber tailings. About half of wood extracted from forests worldwide is used as fuelwood.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fireplace</span> Device for firing solid fuels in buildings

A fireplace or hearth is a structure made of brick, stone or metal designed to contain a fire. Fireplaces are used for the relaxing ambiance they create and for heating a room. Modern fireplaces vary in heat efficiency, depending on the design.

<i>Ondol</i> Traditional Korean underfloor heating system

Ondol or gudeul in Korean traditional architecture is underfloor heating that uses direct heat transfer from wood smoke to heat the underside of a thick masonry floor. In modern usage, it refers to any type of underfloor heating, or to a hotel or a sleeping room in Korean style.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gas stove</span> Type of cooking stove

A gas stove is a stove that is fuelled by flammable gas such as natural gas, propane, butane, liquefied petroleum gas or syngas. Before the advent of gas, cooking stoves relied on solid fuels, such as coal or wood. The first gas stoves were developed in the 1820s and a gas stove factory was established in England in 1836. This new cooking technology had the advantage of being easily adjustable and could be turned off when not in use. The gas stove, however, did not become a commercial success until the 1880s, by which time supplies of piped gas were available in cities and large towns in Britain. The stoves became widespread on the European Continent and in the United States in the early 20th century.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pellet stove</span> Stove that uses pellet fuel

A pellet stove is a stove that burns compressed wood or biomass pellets to create a source of heat for residential and sometimes industrial spaces. By steadily feeding fuel from a storage container (hopper) into a burn pot area, it produces a constant flame that requires little to no physical adjustments. Today's central heating systems operated with wood pellets as a renewable energy source can reach an efficiency factor of more than 90%.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Masonry heater</span> Heating device

A masonry heater is a device for warming an interior space through radiant heating, by capturing the heat from periodic burning of fuel, and then radiating the heat at a fairly constant temperature for a long period. Masonry heaters covered in tile are called Kachelofen. The technology has existed in different forms, from back into the Neoglacial and Neolithic periods. Archaeological digs have revealed excavations of ancient inhabitants utilizing hot smoke from fires in their subterranean dwellings, to radiate into the living spaces. These early forms eventually evolved into modern systems.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kerosene heater</span> Typically a portable, unvented, kerosene-fueled, space-heating device

A kerosene heater, also known as a paraffin heater, is typically a portable, unvented, kerosene-fueled, space heating device. In Japan and other countries, they are a primary source of home heat. In the United States and Australia, they are a supplemental heat or a source of emergency heat during a power outage. Most kerosene heaters produce between 3.3 and 6.8 kilowatts.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Smokeless fuel</span>

Smokeless fuel is a type of solid fuel which either does not emit visible smoke or emits minimal amounts during combustion. These types of fuel find use where the use of fuels which produce smoke, such as coal and unseasoned or wet wood, is prohibited.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Household air pollution</span> Air pollution that is mostly caused by cooking with polluting fuels

Household air pollution (HAP) is a significant form of indoor air pollution mostly relating to cooking and heating methods used in developing countries. Since much of the cooking is carried out with biomass fuel, in the form of wood, charcoal, dung, and crop residue, in indoor environments that lack proper ventilation, millions of people, primarily women and children face serious health risks. In total, about three billion people in developing countries are affected by this problem. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that cooking-related pollution causes 3.8 million annual deaths. The Global Burden of Disease study estimated the number of deaths in 2017 at 1.6 million. The problem is closely related to energy poverty and cooking.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wood-burning stove</span> Type of stove

A wood-burning stove is a heating or cooking appliance capable of burning wood fuel, often called solid fuel, and wood-derived biomass fuel, such as sawdust bricks. Generally the appliance consists of a solid metal closed firebox, often lined by fire brick, and one or more air controls. The first wood-burning stove was patented in Strasbourg in 1557. This was two centuries before the Industrial Revolution, so iron was still prohibitively expensive. The first wood-burning stoves were high-end consumer items and only gradually became used widely.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rocket mass heater</span> Type of heating system

A rocket mass heater (RMH), also known as rocket stove mass heater, is a form of slow-release radiant heating system, designed to primarily heat people and secondarily to warm areas in line of sight around it. Variations of RMH can also be extended for the functions of cooking, heating water, and producing warm air for distribution.

Aprovecho is the name of two non-profit organizations located in Cottage Grove, Oregon. Aprovecho Sustainability Education Center is a not-for-profit organization based in the vicinity of Cottage Grove, Oregon. Its focus is on sustainable living, including permaculture and renewable energy. Its sister organization, Aprovecho Research Center, develops efficient cook stoves for use in developing countries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Luminous flame</span>

A luminous flame is a burning flame which is brightly visible. Much of its output is in the form of visible light, as well as heat or light in the non-visible wavelengths.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Clean-burning stove</span> Stove with reduced toxic emissions

A clean-burning stove is a stove with reduced toxic and polluting emissions. The term refers to solid-fuel stoves such as wood-burning stoves for either domestic heating, domestic cooking or both. In the context of a cooking stove, especially in lower-income countries, such a stove is distinct from a clean-burning-fuel stove, which typically burns clean fuels such as ethanol, biogas, LPG, or kerosene. Studies into clean-burning cooking stoves in lower-income countries have shown that they reduce the emissions of dangerous particulates and carbon monoxide significantly, use less fuel than regular stoves, and result in fewer burn injuries. However, the emissions some supposedly clean-burning cookstoves produce are still much greater than safe limits, and in several studies in lower income countries they did not appear to be effective at reducing illnesses such as pneumonia induced by breathing polluted air, which may have many sources.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">BioLite</span> American start-up energy company

BioLite is a New York City-based startup company that produces off-grid energy products for outdoor recreational use and emerging markets. The company is known for its wood-burning stoves that use thermoelectric technology to create usable electricity from the heat of their fires. It was founded in 2006.

EcoZoom is a certified B Corporation that makes charcoal, wood and biomass cook stoves. The company has offices in Portland, Oregon and Nairobi, Kenya. EcoZoom holds the exclusive license to distribute stove technology designed by Aprovecho in developing countries and a second license to distribute in the United States.

InStove (Institutional Stove Solutions) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization established in 2012.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Energy poverty and cooking</span> Issues involving access to clean, modern fuels and technologies for cooking

One aspect of energy poverty is lack of access to clean, modern fuels and technologies for cooking. As of 2020, more than 2.6 billion people in developing countries routinely cook with fuels such as wood, animal dung, coal, or kerosene. Burning these types of fuels in open fires or traditional stoves causes harmful household air pollution, resulting in an estimated 3.8 million deaths annually according to the World Health Organization (WHO), and contributes to various health, socio-economic, and environmental problems.

References

  1. "Rocket Stove | Rocket Works". rocketworks.org. Archived from the original on 2013-10-12. Retrieved 2016-02-22.
  2. "Build a rocket stove for home heating" . Retrieved 2016-02-23.
  3. Webster, Thomas (1844). An Encyclopędia of Domestic Economy: Comprising Such Subjects As Are Most Immediately Connected with Housekeeping. Adegi Graphics LLC. p. 841. ISBN   9781402194382.
  4. "History". Aprovecho. Retrieved 2009-04-13.
  5. "Whole stoves". Aprovecho. Archived from the original on 2009-02-22. Retrieved 2009-04-13.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  6. "TWP and AHDESA / Fuel-efficient stoves for tortilla makers". Ashden. Retrieved 25 September 2018.
  7. "Aprovecho Research Center and ProBEC / Efficient stoves for institutional cooking". Ashden. Retrieved 25 September 2018.
  8. "Forests and human health". www.fao.org. Retrieved 2020-01-24.
  9. Ochieng, C. A.; Vardoulakis, S.; Tonne, C. (February 2013). "Are rocket mud stoves associated with lower indoor carbon monoxide and personal exposure in rural Kenya?: Kitchen and personal CO from traditional and rocket stoves". Indoor Air. 23 (1): 14–24. doi:10.1111/j.1600-0668.2012.00786.x. PMID   22563898.