Rocket Stoves

Rocket Stoves have been used for generations but are constantly being improved - even a teenager in Ireland made such good improvements that he won a major Science Award Irish Young Scientist of the Year Awards.

The principle works by super-insulating the surrounds to an L-shaped pipe where small twigs and chips of wood are fed into the lower-shorter end of the pipe. These burn with the hole being semi-covered to provide good air control and the material gasifies in the longer portion. The result is a veritable rocket-type exhaust at the top of the pipe (if the insulation is right). I've seen 2 litres of water boil in less than 2 mins on tiny (dry) twigs and slivers of wood.

Winiarski developed the concept in

the early 1980s creating a stove that cleaned up combustion and improved heat transfer

efficiency.

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