Recho TiBwa

www.RechoRoket.com

Rocket Stove Lesson Book

by Jon & Flip Anderson Mercy Corps volunteers Saint Marc, Haiti 2012 Dedicated to the people of TiBwa with thanks to Larry Winiarski

Chapters 1. Why Rocket Stoves are important 2. Science of Fire 3. Clay Mixture 4 Combustion Chamber 5. Fuel Feed & Air Intake 6. Molded Pot Skirt 7. Planting trees 8. Starting a re 9. Mold dimensions & ideas 10. Troubleshooting

Recho TiBwa

3 Rock Fires

Cleaner emissions Less fuel Safer to use Cooks food fast

Are smokey Use lots of wood Are dangerous for children Require longer cooking time.

Fuel

Improved Kitchen

Every day people gather wood to cook. They must go farther from home and use smaller pieces.

Recho TiBwa makes the kitchen a cleaner, safer, more beautiful place to prepare healthy meals for the family.

SCIENCE OF FIRE

High heat causes gases to be released from wood. Wood gases need oxygen and heat to burn clean.

Rocket Stoves draw air in, under the wood, through the re, and into the combustion chamber, supplying oxygen necessary for a hot re.

Insulated combustion chambers concentrate heat so that a small ame becomes a big, hot re.

An insulated combustion chamber heats and mixes oxygen & wood gases which clean emissions in the smoke.

TEST YOUR CLAY

The rst step in stove making is nding a good source of clay. Roll the moistened clay. Good clay should bend without breaking.

Using poor quality clay will result in a stove that degrades quickly from the high heat of the re.

PREPARING DRY CLAY

PREPARING WET CLAY

Dry clay needs to passed through a ne screen. If the materials are not passed through a screen they will not mix well and will result in a stove that is not durable.

Wet clay should be well mixed into a paste-like consistency without lumps.

INSULATION PRINCIPLE #1

INSULATION MATERIAL

Insulate around the re using lightweight, heat-resistant materials. Organic matter and clay become like a jacket holding in heat.

Choose materials that are local, free, or inexpensive and not used for human or animal feed. Examples are: sawdust, rice bran,horse manure and pumice.

PREPARING INSULATION

ASH WATER

Pass through a ne screen no larger than 1/4. Small particles mix with clay better, making the stove stronger and last longer.

Use a gallon of wood ash which has not been leached by rain or water. Mix well with 3 or 4 gallons of water.

Sugary syrup

Strain ash water. Use the ash water to moisten clay. Discard the ash residue. Ash water improves durability of the clay.

Fruit pulp also strengthens the clay mixture. For 5 gallons of clay use one gallon rotting fruit (when available) or 2 cups sugar and mix with water. It will improve stove durability.

Clay Mixing Techniques

Thoroughly combine clay and organic material before adding ash water or sugary syrup. Poor mixing will result in an inferior stove.

Add water and mix and knead the moist clay and break up any lumps. Make sure everything is thoroughly mixed. It should not be too wet or too dry.

Form the clay into balls to further improve clay structure. Then pack them into the molds.

PRINCIPLE #2

Put an insulated short chimney right above the re to burn up the smoke and speed up the draft.

Combustion chambers should be 8" tall to be able to clean emissions. Buckets with a 10" diameter bottom are lighter and use less materials.

These are the mold parts for the combustion chamber: bucket and bottom, 2 gaskets, 12" section of 4" PVC cut straight.

Place the bucket bottom in rst, then put in two gaskets and the PVC.

Wash and oil the PVC and bucket to keep if from sticking when removing.

Pack the clay mixture rmly with a at bottomed stick to remove air cavities. Make sure the bucket and PVC don't rise up.

Keep the PVC centered. Smooth clay and keep it uniform and level. Leave a 1 space from the top to help release the clay from the bucket when you turn it over later.

The PVC should have two holes at one end. Slide a rod through the holes and pull the PVC out of the clay.

turn the bucket over.

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Press down on the removable bottom. The 1 gap helps relieve the suction along the sides of the bucket.

Lift up the sides of the bucket while pushing down on the moveable bottom. The bucket will slide free.

Now take off the bucket bottom and the other ttings. Filling in the holes and smoothing the clay will make the stove more durable.

Place the combustion chamber in shade to dry so it does not crack from drying too quickly.

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FUEL/AIR FEED

Place a piece of cardboard, wood, or tin on the ground. Coat inside of box with oil, set in place, begin lling. The scored line in the box should be down near the bottom.

Fill the box part of mold to the scored line with clay mixture and then level the mixture. Rub oil on the center mold to help the clay release.

The center mold sits on top of the lower layer of clay. Make sure the center mold is centered between the vertical lines on the end of the box.

Begin packing clay around the center mold. The top of the center mold needs to stay level with top of the box and stay centered between the sides.

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Tamp the clay with a at ended stick to make sure the clay is properly packed and without air cavities.

Use a stick to make sure the top of the center block stays centered and the same height as the sides of the box.

Attention to detail will make a stove base that works well and is durable.

Pull up on the handles on the side of the box to remove the outside mold. Shaking it a little from side to side will help loosen the box.

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Slide the center mold out. You may need to rock it back and forth a little to get it to release.

The Fuel/Air Feed is now ready to dry in a shady location. Fill in any holes and smooth the clay to make the Fuel/Air Feed last longer.

PRINCIPLE #3

PRINCIPLE #4

Use a grate under the re. Air ows in through the grate to give wood tips lots oxygen to make a hot re.

Heat and burn the tips of the sticks as they enter the re to make ame, not smoke. Keep a space between the sticks and the back of stove to allow more air ow.

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Use 4 or 5 pieces of rebar for the grate, no more than 1/2" apart to keep coals from falling before they turn to ash. Use straight rebar cut into 6" lengths.

The grate will burn out so use thick rebar. Place rebar in the back of the fuel/air feed to allow air to ow under and into the burning sticks.

FUEL/AIR FEED

A piece of tin will be placed on 3 pieces of rebar that are spaced farther apart. The rebar that supports the tin can be thinner as the re will not be as hot as at the grate.

Sticks rest on a short piece of tin which sets on rebar. The tin creates the air intake tunnel as well as a place to remove ash.

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PRINCIPLE #5

Maintain a good, fast draft from under the re, up through the coals. Avoid allowing too much extra air above the re to cool it.

A piece of tin on the ledge at the front of the fuel/air intake will hold the sticks and create a space for air to enter below. Stick tips need air from below.

PRINCIPLE #6

DON'T

Too little draft being pulled into the re will result in smoke and excess charcoal. Use a grate and allow air to ow below the tin or the ash will build up.

DON'T let the tin get pushed onto the grate or the airow will be blocked. Keep the grate and airow open. Remove ash when it blocks airow.

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PRINCIPLE #7

Caption

High and low heat are created by how many sticks are pushed into the re. Fast moving air through the grate works like a forge, increasing the re heat.

Air owing in over the sticks keeps the smoke owing up the combustion chamber and not out the front where it blackens the stove.

POT SKIRT
PRINCIPLE #8

Place a piece of tin or brick on top of the fuel feed to bring in more air above the sticks and keep smoke from discoloring the stove.

Concentrate the heat ow path, from the re, to and around pot. Pot skirts increase heat transfer by directing hot gases along the sides of the cooking pot.

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MOLDED POT SKIRT (TOP)

This tub has sloped sides and a bottom the same diameter as the 5 gallon bucket mold for the Rocket Stove combustion chamber.

This is what the mold for the pot skirt looks like. There is a gasket and a short piece of 4" PVC in the bottom of the tub.

Moisten the inside of the tub and line with plastic so the clay mixture will slip out easily. Pack with clay mixture and press rmly.

Be sure to pack the clay mixture in tight to capture the shape of the ring tting. Pack the mixture up to the top of the PVC.Make sure the PVC stays in place.

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Set the pot on top of the PVC and make sure it is centered. Make sure the gap between the cooking pot and tub is the same all around. Pack and smooth.

It's important to put some weight in the pot while packing in the clay mixture. If you don't, the pot will rise up above the PVC.

Remove the pot, put a board on top of the tub and holding to the handles, turn the tub over to release the new pot skirt. Fill in any air cavities and smooth.

Once they've dried a little, place the pot skirt on top of combustion chamber. The ttings allow them to interlock and hold in place.

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PRINCIPLE #9

Keep air ow unrestricted by maintaining constant cross sectional area through the stove.

A small re can have a BIG impact if you use a properly sized pot skirt to transfer all the heat to the cooking pot.

PRINCIPLE #10

Maximize heat transfer to the pot with properly sized gaps.

If the gap is too large, heat transfer to the pot will diminish and heat will be wasted.

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POT SKIRT

Use the stove tool to form the correct cross sectional area and height of pot rests. The stove tool is placed into a combustion chamber to determine the pot rest height.

Make sure the stove top is beveled and pot rests are at the proper height to allow hot gases to leave the combustion chamber without slowing down.

TOO HIGH

While the clay is still soft, insert rocks or rebar for pot rests. Make sure the pot rests are packed tight. They should be set 1" back from the edge of combustion chamber.

Rebar will work well for pot rests. These pot rests are way too high and will result in wasted heat. A stove tool makes it easy to nd the correct height.

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STOVE TOOL

This handy stove tool can help you know how high the pot rests must be and how to form the correct cross sectional area slope on the pot skirt.

The stove tool pattern is found on www. RechoRoket. com Print it, cut it, and...

trace it onto a piece of tin. Cut the tin and you have your own stove tool.

Work your way around the combustion chamber with the stove tool as shown and you will come pretty close to getting the pot supports equidistance apart.

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TREE PLANTING

Rocket Stoves will save wood but there is a need to plant trees as well. On garden land, an A-frame can be used to nd the contour of the land.

Seeds can be planted along the contour. Fruit trees, fuel wood trees, lumber trees, will help hold the soil in place and replace trees that are being cut.

Trees like Leucana and Moringa can be trimmed into a hedge and used as animal feed. The dried branches can be used as fuel for Rocket Stoves.

Racius is a man from Limbe who established forests in poor soil by planting tree seeds at the base of banan plants. You can do it too. You need to do it.

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FIRE STARTING

Place dried corn husks or paper on the grate. On top of those place twigs and small slivers of wood. Light the re and then add larger twigs and sticks. Fan the re.

The rst res in a new Rocket Stove will be more difcult to light because the clay will still be a little moist. The stove will also be a little smokey until it dries out.

As the sticks burn, push them forward so the tips rest over the grate. Be sure to clean the ash from under the grate and tin before starting a re.

In wet weather once you are nished cooking the meal, place the wood for the next meal on top of the warm stove so it will dry out.

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DIMENSIONS

Fuel/Air Feed Box: 16.25" x 11.5" x 7.75" Base ll line 2" Sanding inside of box and center mold will help clay release. Painting will also help.

Fuel/Air Feed top section: 4.75" x 13" x 4.25" bottom section: 4" x 13" x 1.5"

COMBUSTION CHAMBER

4" PVC -14" (cut straight) 5 gal bucket 10" dia. base 1" cut from bucket bottom Buckets can be purchased from Christ Seul Espoir Pepe in Saint Marc 3722-7911

Cut the bucket bottom with a hack saw. It's easier to measure from the bottom up, once you calculate how much to cut off.

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Molded Skirt

The tubs need to be the size of a 5 gallon bucket at their base. Check with Mercy Corps Saint Marc to nd out where to nd these tubs.

The tting in the tub should match the height of the tting in the bucket. The PVC will t inside the tting. Put 2 screws thru the top and then 6 from the bottom.

ARTWORK

If you are making stoves to sell it would be a good idea to have a mark or logo that identies your stove. If you make a quality stove it should be worth more money.

Guy puts birds on his stoves. He says the stoves will save enough trees for the birds to have a place to build their nests.

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These birds were made by tracing around a paper cutout. A tree design would be nice to see, or a mountain

This design was made by tracing around a leaf that was pinned onto the stove.

TROUBLE SHOOTING

The charcoal build up on the piece of tin was a sign of problem. The tin was pushed too far forward and was blocking the grate.

This turbulence n soaked up water from the combustion chamber, got soggy and broke. It was not red enough. They need to be cooked.

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There are two problems here: the clay is a type that disintegrates when heated. Also the manure is too large so there is poor mixing of the ingredients.

Soil that doesn't stick together won't make a durable stove. This soil was so poor the top didn't even survive coming out of the mold.

The rebar does not make a grate. This stove will choke with charcoal and ash.

The turbulence ns are put in too at and are blocking the air ow. The combustion chamber would be white if the stove was working properly.

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The soot on the outside of this combustion was a sign that something was blocking the air ow. It is the pot. The pot blocked the air ow as you can see from the soot.

Such a problem can be corrected by cutting away clay from the inside of the skirt. There should be a gap of 3/8" (1 cm).

This stove is smokey because the pot is too small to t on the pot rests and is choking the re.

This problem was corrected by installing rebar bent in over the combustion chamber. Trouble shooting is an important of stove building and maintenance.

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Stoves must be protected from rain. Cover the kitchen area with tin or plastic so the stoves stay dry.

Build a base under the stove to keep the bottom dry. This will make it so a cook doesn't have to bend over so far to put wood in the re.

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