Rocket stove
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The rocket stove is a variety of wood-burning cooking stove. It is easy to construct, with low-cost materials.
Contents |
[edit] Overview
It operates roughly twice as efficiently, and substantially more cleanly, than the open fire cooking methods still used in many areas of the world. Furthermore, the design of the stove requires small diameter lengths of wood, which can generally be satisfied with small branches. As such, sufficient fuel for cooking tasks can be gathered in less time, without the benefit of tools, and ideally without the destruction of forested areas.
Because these qualities improve local air quality, and discourage deforestation, the rocket stove has attracted the attention of a number of Appropriate Technology concerns, which have deployed it in numerous third-world locales (notably, the Rwandan refugee camps). This attention has resulted in a number of adaptations intended to improve convenience and safety, and thus the size of the target audience. The Justa Stove, for example, is a cousin of the rocket stove adapted for indoor use and family cooking needs.
[edit] Key features
The Rocket Stove's main components are as follows:
- Fuel magazine - a short length of steel or ceramic pipe fitted horizontally into the base of the chimney
- Fuel shelf - holds the fuel clear of the bottom of the magazine to allow air to flow underneath
- Chimney - a metal box (such as a 5-gallon tin can) or pipe standing vertically and supporting the cooking vessel
- Heat exchanger - a tubular metal shield that forces hot gases from the chimney to pass over the sides of the cooking vessel
[edit] See also
- Rocket (disambiguation)
- Benjamin Franklin designed an efficient stove.
