Vortex Stove

[Jura]

Dec 4, 2017 10:31:26 GMT -8 drooster said:

So pretty Vortex, great job!

Will it be possible to run both at the same time?

diligence! :-).

Vortex wrote the original one would be disassembled.

[Vortex]

Dec 3, 2017 6:59:43 GMT -8 @yasintoda said:

Hi Vortex,

Thanks for all the information you're sharing here, it's very interesting and inspiring ! Great welding skills also !

I've been doing some calculations on your core and since the volume of the firebox is approx. 40L it would be classified (in France) as a 2500W heater considering two fires a day.

Do you know the approximate weight of your heater ? I've made a rough estimation and it should be around 600-700 kg. Is that right ?

If both calculations are correct, your heater as a ratio brick weight vs. power output of approx. 300 kg/kW which is very very good ! With bell systems I have trouble to go that low so i'm very interested ! I think it may be your heat extracting system that is more efficient than bells.

For example, in my last cookstove I'm around 600 kg/kW and Peter with his red bell is around 1100 kg/kW. Common contraflow heaters that I've built are between 300-500 kg/kW. For the french climate with daily temperature variations and old, uninsulated buildings it's very nice to have heaters of moderate weight with a surface temperature that is quite high.

If your heat extracting system is as efficient as it seems it would just be a perfect addition to a batch core !

Could you try to measure the temperature inside your exit flue, approximately 1 m above the plancha exit ? If I may push a little bit further, could you do that measurement by doing only one full firing and by taking the temperature every 10 minutes from the beginning of the firing ?

A simple way is to use those BBQ thermometers : www.amazon.fr/gp/product/B00L314SOY/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I know you've already done temperature measurements, but it seemed to me that you were measuring the outside temperature of the exit flue so it's different.

Regards,

yasintoda, Here are the results of the internal chimney temperature readings at 850mm above the stove top. I didn't manage every 10 minutes but as often as I could. Hope it's enough for your needs.
Temperatures are quite a bit higher than the 2015 external readings taken with an infra-red thermometer. I think the emissivity of the stainless steel pipe must have made them low.

*Temperatures are all in degrees Celsius. 10KG of mixed Wood burned. Test is on the old stove.

10:50am (Stove out) 24*C
11:00 (Stove lit) 150
11:10 160_____14:30 95
11:20 172_____15:00 89
11:30 168_____15:20 86
11:40 150_____15:40 81
11:50 140_____15:50 80
12:00 148_____17:10 69
12:10 130_____17:30 50
12:20 123_____18:00 48
12:30 120_____18:30 47
12:40 116_____19:00 45
12:50 113_____19:30 44
13:00 112_____20:00 43
13:10 110_____21:00 40
13:20 109_____23:00 38
13:30 107_____00:00 36
14:00 101
14:10 100

[Vortex]

Dec 4, 2017 10:31:26 GMT -8 drooster said:

So pretty Vortex, great job!

Will it be possible to run both at the same time?

No, as Jura kindly pointed out I will be dismantling the original stove and will move the new one into it's place. I would never want to anyway, as my house gets too hot with just one going, I often have to open the door as it is.

[Deleted]

Wow, thanks you very much Vortex !

Those are very good temperature measurements.. if excess air is not too high the efficiency should be very good !
Just one thing -- was the fire fed continuously over the course of a few hours or was it only one "batch" ? Because if it is fed continuously I fear that it's not really possible to compare.
Nevertheless it shows that it is a good heat extracting system.. I'll try something along those lines !

Thanks,

[Vortex]

The fire was lit at 11am with one batch of 10KG of Willow, Hazel and Ash firewood. It wasn't touched after it was lit. I didn't have to re-light it until 24 hours later at 11am the next morning. Outside temperature was 7*C to 9*C, inside temperate ranged from 18*C to 26*C.

Primary air was 3/4 open for the first 20 minutes, then down to 1/4 open until 45 minutes, then completely closed (Firebox is not airtight). Chimney damper was full open for first few minutes then at 45 degrees until it was completely closed at 17:00

[1967gto]

Hey Vortex have you been able to fire up the new stove yet?

[Vortex]

Hi 1967gto,
No, unfortunately not. Everything seems to have been conspiring against me. My hydro-electric generator broke-down before xmas and that took a lot of my spare time to fix, I had to build a new pelton runner for it, which is a highly complex part. Then I got the Aussie Flu and was really ill for 3 weeks with that. I have managed to make the Hearth Shelf that goes in front below the door level, chimney manifold, and most of the ashbox door. I'm held up with finishing them because my pillar drill broke and I've not been able to get hold of a replacement part. I hope to get it finished in the next month. I'll get some new pictures up soon.

[1967gto]

Sorry to hear that vortex, that's not the way to start a new year.

Hope all is getting better, and looking forward to seeing the new stove working. Can only go up from here...right?

[travis]

Vortex that looks like a sweet stove. I like the way you run your tertiary air also. Hope you're able to get what you need to finish!

[Vortex]

Thanks for the good wishes guys.

As promised here's some pictures of the recent progress.

Chimney manifold, Oven door hinges, Hearth shelf and Ashbox door all completed.







Firebox door and air controls still to make, but I think I'll use the old stove door at first so I can experiment and get a feel for what's the best size and postilion air controls to make on the new door.

I have 6 paving slabs to use as a base to stand it on, so now I'm just waiting on a few mild days to take down the old stove and move this one into position. More soon...

[wiscojames]

Really sharp looking. Nice changes from the stove at the start of the thread. Thanks for sharing!

[Jura]

Jan 10, 2018 3:42:38 GMT -8 Vortex said:

I hope to get it finished in the next month. I'll get some new pictures up soon.

Poor start of the year means the universe will provide you with more concentrated strikes of luck in the next months.
Entropy works just like yin-yang

If my friends decides to give it a try to your stove we will start building a VORTEX cooking stove in spring.
The trick is that it is supposed not to work as a heater but just a cook stove while transporting all the of excess energy to huge water 3m3 buffer tank.
(charged with PV and another rocket stove)
There is an existing piping system with an u-shaped heat exchanger (supposedly 4 KW only) in the place of the future stove.
So far I'm not familiar with more details.

[Vortex]

Hi Jura, I hope you're right about the yin-yang effect, though it sounds like it contravenes Murphy's Law

That will be an interesting project if it happens, keep us updated.

[stuartmc]

Wait, what did I miss? What's that beautiful door for? Is it just for looks, to break up the solid copper front?

While I'm pestering you, and forgive me if I've missed this, have you installed one of these on a wooden floor? If so, did you adjust the base (i.e. build it on an insulated base)?

Thanks for all of the great info!
Stuart

[Vortex]

It's a fake oven door, I found it in a metal recycling bin a few years ago. It made me want to build a vortex stove in the style of an old Victorian cooking range. It creates a nice contrast with the copper. I finished making the towel rail for it today.

The original stove has been sitting on a wooden floor for the last 10 years. The floor is insulated underneath with 6" of rockwool between the joists. Most of the heat collects in the upper parts of the stove, the base never gets that hot. When the stove is really hot the concrete base will get to around 35*C. The new stove has an inner magnetite brick base and an outer concrete paver base - twice as thick as the old one.