55-gallon Drum Too Big?

[overlander]

Hello, everyone!

I'm new here, and have recently become enthralled with Rocket Stoves. I built one in the backyard just to see how they work, and I'm hooked. Now, I wish to build more.

Is a 55-gallon drum too big? My chimney out the barrel will be at least the measurement for the barrel height, if you measure from the barrel top. So, I guess twice the barrel height measurement (from the lowest I can get on the barrel). Everything is 4 inches diameter: fuel magazine, burn chamber, chimney inside barrel, chimney outside barrel. I was going to upload a picture of my plans, but I'm told the forum as exceeded it's attachment space limit.

I would like a Rocket Stove that I can use around the house and take to the lake for BBQs that will cook and provide heat on chilly evenings.

Thanks (in advance) for everyone's help!

[patamos]

Hi Overlander.

Welcome to this amazing forum.

I've been thinking of building a similar configuration in my workshop.
Seems to me the barrel will act more as a bell, particularly if you leave more than a few inches between the heat riser and barrel top.
A bell chamber is a fine solution on the whole, only in this case being the thin metal, will mean a greater portion of the harvested heat will be released sooner, and less will make its way into the longer flywheel mass storage

That said, I haven't tried this combination of dimensions in these materials yet, so i could be wrong.



well being

pat

[Donkey]

Well.. 4 inches is a mighty small stove. Unless you are building it like Peterberg's stove in the small-scale-development thread, it's not likely to really impress.
I usually try to talk people into something a little bigger.. Like 6 inches, but then you have to NOT use metals in the burn chamber.

[patamos]

Thanks Donkey,

Cool to catch up on that thread. How history was made pioneering the first Peter Channels.

Seems the crux of the rationale for going to a larger system is the relatively smaller loss of CSA to the boundary layer. To Quote Peter's first post: 'So, with a small diameter the wall is larger compared to the cross sectional area of the riser'.

I'd been perusing Sandy's Dragon Heaters website of late... and wondering just how much i could get out of an optimized 4" J-feed system...

Overlander, i don't mean to jack your thread but maybe explanation of my scenario will be of help:
My workshop is 400sq with fairly well-insulated light clay and browncoat walls. I'm in there for 2 - 6 hours every few days, so am looking for fairly rapid radiant heating of the (bodies in the) space and imagine the walls will offer a bit of flywheel. I was hoping to keep things down to a 50 gal barrel-bell, but could up-size with an extra barrel-bell on top, or maybe a bell-bench. But also hoping to keep it 'removable on short notice' if you know what i mean.
I've thought of a 4" batch box, but my kids love to feed the Ls and Js i have built and the more they are engaged in that... the more can i get stuff done

Donkey, what would you recommend?

[Donkey]

Well... It's pretty nice to have the kids glued to something fun. On the other hand, that's a temporary thing at best.. If they're boys, they'll probably stick with it a little longer (cause it's alive), if they're girls they'll get bored with it pretty quickly. (I've got 2 girls) In either case, there's a limit to your stove's ability to capture the imagination and they'll be off to fool with something else.

If a 4" stove is your only option, I'd probably choose the batch-box. My little mud batch is 4" and it shows some promise. I haven't played with it in some time, but when did, it acted like it might be a worthy stove with some tweeks and whatnot.

[patamos]

Ya Man,

2 boys age 9 and 6, each equipped with their own personal (birthday presents) hatchets, both also pretty adept on a larger axe, and a decent supply of 2x6 framing offcuts. When the cold winter rains set in i'm hoping they will go on autopilot tending the hearth. Then again, any sign of dry weather and day light and they drag me outdoors to kick a ball around. I know their desire of my constant company will fade into their teenage years, so for now... well... i don't get much done

Now i am leaning towards building a 6" J with a 55g barrel plus a lower third - ala your ba-da-bing suggestion for a sauna. I was thinking smaller system size cuz i don't want to be throwing too much heat out the flue. But i guess i don't always have to run the thing flat out....

peace