Vortex Heater Design Report
Vortex Heater Design Report
Vortex Heater Design Report
Design Report
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Author: Sander Grummels
Date: 14-4-2021
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Table of contents
1 | Introduction ...................................................................................................................... 4
2 | Background information ................................................................................................... 5
2.1 Rocket-stove basics .................................................................................................... 5
2.1.1 How does a rocket-stove work .............................................................................. 5
2.1.2 Conclusion ............................................................................................................ 5
3 | Rocket stove types ........................................................................................................... 6
3.1 (Outdoor) Cooking rocket-stoves ................................................................................. 6
3.1.1 L-shape ................................................................................................................. 6
3.1.2 V-shape ................................................................................................................ 6
3.1.3 Apostol rocket-stove .............................................................................................. 7
3.2 Rocket-(mass)-heater .................................................................................................. 7
3.3 Vortex (/Himalayan) rocket-stove................................................................................. 8
3.4 Batch-box rocket-stove ................................................................................................ 8
3.5 What’s not a rocket stove ............................................................................................ 9
4 | Concept-phase ............................................................................................................... 10
4.1 Design intentions ....................................................................................................... 10
4.2 Inspiration .................................................................................................................. 10
4.3 Design concept .......................................................................................................... 11
5 | Detail design .................................................................................................................. 12
5.1 Design substantiation ................................................................................................ 12
5.2 Design description ..................................................................................................... 13
5.2.1 Accessories......................................................................................................... 14
5.3 Operation................................................................................................................... 15
5.3.1 Stove base .......................................................................................................... 15
5.3.2 Heat-exchanger .................................................................................................. 16
5.4 Dimensioning ............................................................................................................. 17
5.4.1 Dimensioning explanation ................................................................................... 17
5.4.2 Conclusion .......................................................................................................... 18
6 | Execution ....................................................................................................................... 19
6.1 Parts .......................................................................................................................... 19
6.2 Building ..................................................................................................................... 19
7 | Final result ..................................................................................................................... 21
8 | Conclusion & Recommendation ..................................................................................... 22
8.1 Conclusion................................................................................................................. 22
8.1.1 Setbacks ............................................................................................................. 22
8.2 Recommendations..................................................................................................... 22
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9 | Bibliography ................................................................................................................... 23
9.1.1 List of figures .......................................................................................................... 24
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1 | Introduction
This is a design report concerning a Vortex-Heater. It’s a step by step approach, starting with
basic elements and resulting to a final personal design. Secondly it describes the making of
this Vortex-Heater in real. The building process directly confronted practical issues towards
the designed model. At last the execution resulted in some expected vortex principles but
not all items were successful. To complete this design report, drawings and additional files
are added.
Sander Grummels
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2 | Background information
2.1 Rocket-stove basics
Rocket-stoves are more efficient types of woodstoves (which make use of small wood)
because of a better burn process (& better insulation) which are used for cooking efficiently.
The (L-shape) rocket stove was founded by Dr.Larry Winiarski in the ’80s as an efficient
solution for people in developing countries who rely heavily on woodfired cooking. The
rocket stove is about twice as efficient as open woodfires. Because of the burn process, they
reduce smoke and harmful emissions. The stove does also a much better job at transferring
heat to cooking pots.
Another key principle is that the wood is only getting burned at its tips. It is burned bit by bit
(in the case of an L-shape, the wood has to be pushed in by hand), it limits the amount of
wood that is heated (also due to the draft) and reduces the amount of volatile wood oils
being generated. This creates a very constant burn. The burn process will not get
overloaded all the wood can be burned cleanly.
2.1.2 Conclusion
All in all, the heat in combination with lots of oxygen drawn into the system is the perfect
recipe for an efficient and clean combustion.
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3.1.1 L-shape
The original rocket stove developed by Larry Winiarski was
intended for the use of cooking efficiently. The L-shape
featured in rocket-stoves has besides all the other benefits
another important function. Due to the insulation in the heat-
riser, the heat gets concentrated and if you place a pot or a
cooking pan on the heat transfer is very big to the cooking
surface.
The L-shaped rocket-stove (See Figure 2) for cooking is Figure 2 (L-shape rocket stove)
intended to use in poorly developed countries to reduce toxic
smoke and fuel consumption. This type of stove is mostly made of clay, bricks, or concrete.
These materials insulate quite well. Quite often the fuel shelve is not added. This is not such
a very big problem sure it will reduce some efficiency but the basic principle is efficient
enough and it minimizes the problems of smoke and lots of firewood.
3.1.2 V-shape
Also, a lot of stoves are constructed of steel, and instead of an
L-shape it features a V-shape (See Figure 3). This has an
advantage because the wood feeds itself when it burns
because of the slope. This type of construction is barely seen
on stoves made from clay, bricks. First, because it’s quite hard
to make a geometry like this with these materials. Secondly,
the friction between the wood and the slope is often too high
so self-feeding doesn’t work. With the V-shape, the fuel shelve
is very important because otherwise the air gets sucked over
the wood, and turbulence mixing will not happen. For that
reason, fuel is capped off.
Earlier in the text is mentioned that insulation is the key for a Figure 3 (Bardon) V-shape
clean burn. Feeling says that steel is not a very good insulator. rocket-stove
That maybe partly true, more heat will dissipate from the fire,
but as long the stove is a low mass (mostly the weight is much lower than their concrete
counterparts) this will be minimized. The next material where heat is lost is air and is only
due to natural convection (and the air is a bad conductor). Still, a relatively clean burn can be
maintained only more heat is lost but it is still way more efficient than an open fire or a
traditional stove
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(Engineer775, 2016)
Figure 4 (Apostol rocket-stove)
3.2 Rocket-(mass)-heater
A rocket-mass-heater (See Figure 6) is an
extended variant of the basic (L-shape) rocket-
stove. Where a standard rocket-stove is very
good at efficiently heating a small surface it is not
very suitable for space heating because the heat
is concentrated at the top of the chimney. When it
is used inside it will fill the room with exhaust
gases which is not desirable.
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takes place in the heat riser. This is much better than in a standard rocket-stove and it will
burn more efficiently. The most important to the rocket-mass-heater is its heavy insulation.
The stove burns at around 1000 °C. These temperatures are needed to burn all the volatile
compounds and extract all the heat from the wood.
The batch box rocket-stove uses also the principle of the extended
flame path but the narrowing is applied in the middle and no natural
insulation is created (See Figure 9). So
good insulation is very important.
(Berg, Workings, how and why, n.d.)
Figure 8 (Berg, Open Batch-
box rocket-stove)
For a more extensive explanation of the
Batch-box rocket-stove is suggest reading Appendix E.2.
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4 | Concept-phase
4.1 Design intentions
The design idea is to make an efficient woodstove for use in the garden. It should be
efficiently easy to construct and easy to demount. Also, it should be easily movable.
Further, it is desirable to see as much as possible from the fire.
4.2 Inspiration
The inspiration from the concept design came from different rocket stove ideas from the
internet. All the ideas come from YouTube videos.
The last inspiration is by adding glass in the burn tunnel and on top where the flames exit the
riser (See Figures 13 & 14). In combination with the vortex stove from Takeshi Ueno, parts
of the flames become visible.
All these inspirations meet the design intentions of efficient heating, seeing as much as
possible of the burning flames and being movable.
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Based on the inspiration a first concept was created (See Figure 15). The base of the stove
is a vortex rocket-stove. The stove is completely made out of steel, The heat exchanger is
made from old (11kg) gas bottles welded together. The heat-exchanger is a 2-piece part for
easy assembly. This concept features a window on the top of the heat-exchanger.
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5 | Detail design
The definitive design (See Figures 16, 17 & 18) will be explained in the following paragraphs.
It will describe which choices are made and how the design came about.
1. Easy construction:
• Because the stove is made of steel, all parts
can be made with a laser cutter & basic
metalworking tools (no milling). So no concrete
casting of clay molding.
1. Moveability:
• Because the stove is made of steel the weight
stays relatively low (78 kg) so the stove is
moveable.
2. Easy to demount:
• The stove is made of 4 parts so it is
demountable.
3. See as much fire as possible:
• Two viewing windows are included in the
design where the flames are perceivable.
4. Efficient burning/heating:
• As a starting point, a vortex rocket-stove is
Figure 16 Vortex-Heater 3D render
used. It allows the stove to be made from steel
(because the insulation is not very important
for explanation see 3.3). However, efficiency will be less, a compromise has
to be made for easy construction and moveability. Also, the extra windows will
reduce efficiency.
• The heat-exchanger will radiate a lot of heat which is desirable outside.
For a 3D pdf see Appendix A.2. For more 3D renders see Appendix B.1.
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On the stove base, the bottom part heat-exchanger gets mounted. On top of the bottom part
heat-exchanger, the top part heat-exchanger gets mounted. At the exit-port of the bottom
part heat-exchanger the chimney gets mounted.
Secondly, in the design two windows are included. One is mounted in the burn-tunnel and
one in the top of the heat-exchanger. The windows are attached with bolts and are pressed
against a heat-resistant seal cord. Also between all the 4 main parts heat resistant seal
cords are added for a good air-tight sealing.
Besides, the top part of the heat-exchanger is removable, this makes it possible to add
insulation around the heat-riser (vermiculite for example). Take into account that insulation
will result in a better burn, but because the temperature will rise it goes to temperatures
where the steel can corrode away slowly and the life expectancy of the stove will be shorter.
Further, the whole stove is made from standard mild steel (S235) except for the heat
exchanger that is made from stainless steel (SS316). (In contradiction to the concept there
are no gas bottles used for the heat-exchanger.
Finally, all the main parts are coated with heat-resistant paint for corrosion resistance related
to outside weather conditions.
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5.2.1 Accessories
2 accessories are included in the design. An ash remover (See Figure 20) and a pellet
burner (See Figure 21). It is easy to clean the ashes out with the ash remover. And with the
pellet burner, it is also possible to burn pellets. In the pellet burner, a recess is made so it
doesn’t block the view in the burn tunnel.
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5.3 Operation
In contradiction to standard
rocket-mass-heaters the
primary air is sucked from a
separate air inlet than the feed
tube. This is because the stove
is made from steel. Steel is
quite a good conductor of heat.
When burning, the whole stove
heats up. The feed tube gets
hot and it will act as a
counteracting heat riser.
(Siepmann, 2017) This
appearance is not desirable. It
disturbs the proper functioning
of the stove. To eliminate this
appearance the feed tube is
capped off and the air inlet is
placed at the bottom.
This stove has the basic principle of a vortex rocket-stove, but with Figure 23 (Tertiary
added features copied/inspired from Takeshi Ueno’s designs. combustion vortex rocket-
stove, 2015)
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5.3.2 Heat-exchanger
When the hot gases (& flames) exit the heat riser into the heat
exchanger, they flow up where the flames can be seen
through the glass. The vertical flow of gases will be cooled by
the heat-exchanger, and a lot of radiation heat is created.
Thereafter, the gases escape into the exit-port into the
chimney. See Figure 24 for an overview of how the gases will
flow.
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5.4 Dimensioning
For vortex rocket-stoves there are no clear design rules how to dimension a kind of stove.
The inspiration from this stove came from Takeshi Ueno. By analyzing his stoves dimension
estimations have been done and applied on this design.
As a starting point, a round tube Ø139,7x4mm is used for the heat-riser. Based on these
dimensions all the other dimensions are determined.
Ianto Evans describes in his book “Rocket Mass Heaters” page 35 & 36: (See Appendix E.1)
some key dimensions and proportions for dimensioning. When dimensioning these basic
rocket-stove these design principles were taken into account.
J-shape dimensions
The basic length proportions for a J-shape should be as followed designed, 1:2:4
(feed-tube:burn-tunnel:heat-riser). These proportions are relative to the system size1 and are
measured from center to center. This is just a rule of thumb.
Important is that the length of the heat riser is at least twice as long (longer = better) as the
burn tunnel to provide a good draft. Also, the heat-riser should be at least 4 times the length
of the feed tube to prevent a counter draft from the feed tube. This last rule doesn’t apply to
this design because the feed tube is capped off and the primary air gets sucked from a
separate inlet.
Air-inlet
The dimensions of the air-inlet are important because the right amount of air has to be
introduced. Too much air and the fire cools too much and not all the volatile gases will burn,
too little air won't provide enough oxygen for a clean burn. For a calculation of the sizing of
the air-inlet see Appendix C.
Burn tunnel
A design principle is that in the whole system the burn tunnel needs to have the smallest
cross-section. For this design, this doesn’t count because the restricted port replaces this
function (of mixing). The restriction has the smallest cross-section area in the system.
Further is stated that the burn tunnel should be as short as possible but a horizontal part is
needed for the mixing.
Restricted port
The restricted port is a restriction from the burn tunnel into the heat-riser. It accelerates the
gases into the heat-riser and spins into a vortex. There are no clear rules for the width of the
restriction but mostly the width varies between 30% to 50% of the internal diameter of the
1Diameter or square dimension of the cross section of the (heat riser) J-shape. No distinction is made
between square and round tube. A square tube has a larger surface than a round tube, but it’s skin
surface is larger, which provides more resistance. So this equals each other out.
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heat-riser. In this design width of 40% of the total internal diameter is applied (estimated
from the design of Takeshi Ueno).
Exit-port
For a good flow in the stove and to ensure that no accumulation of gases takes place, the
cross-sectional area of the exit port needs to be bigger than that of the cross-sectional area
of the heat riser.
5.4.2 Conclusion
All these dimensioning rules are taken into account. They are applied to the definitive design
of the Vortex-Heater. For an overview of the dimensions of the stove see Figure 25.
(For a better view see Appendix A.3)
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6 | Execution
From the 3d model design, full detailed 2D drawings are made to make the Vortex-Heater.
The stove is build based on the 2D drawings (See Appendix D.1). During building, mistakes
in the drawings have been adjusted. In the following paragraphs, the building of the stove is
shortly explained. For building a full part list & cut list are added to build the stove (See
Appendix D.2 & D.3). Also, production files (STEP and DXF) are added of every part and
weldment (See Appendix D.4 & D.5).
6.1 Parts
Before welding and construction, all the parts have to
be created. The whole stove consists of 3mm sheet
metal and tube steel (S235). Sheetmetal has to be
laser-cut (See Figure 26) and the tube steel has to be
cut to length.
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After welding, every part or weldment is coated with heat-resistant paint (See Figure 28).
After painting, all the parts are assembled (See Figure 29). At last, windows and heat-
resistant seals are installed.
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7 | Final result
After the building, the Vortex-Heater is ready for use and can be fired up. The stove creates
a nice vortex as intended. See Figure 30 for the final result. For more burning photo’s/video’s
see Appendix
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8.1.1 Setbacks
1. The tertiary air on top does not work, So no flames are coming out of the heat-riser.
so the fire cannot be perceived. This is unfortunate but it is hard to explain why it
does not work. as a result, the window is no longer useful and its function lapses.
2. The construction of the stove was harder than expected because of the internal
geometry of the stove. A lot of places were hard to reach using the welding torch.
3. Unless the heat-resistant coating rust is very present so corrosion protection is quite
bad.
8.2 Recommendations
1. Because the tertiary air does not work is it is a better idea to use a J-shape
rocket-stove as a base (out of steel).
2. A J-shape rocket stove is a lot easier to construct from only a square tube and the
viewing window at the burn tunnel is still possible option. Also the principle of a J-
shape is a lot more proven design that works and has a low chance to not fail.
3. When using the stove outside it is still a better option to make it fully from stainless
steel it offers a lot better protection than standard mild steel with a protective coating.
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9 | Bibliography
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Bardon, S. (n.d.). V-shape rocket stove. Homemade wood burning Rocket stove. Youtube.
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Berg, P. v. (n.d.). Open Batch-box rocket-stove. Batchrocket. Retrieved from
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(2017, 5 5).DIY rocket stove improvement. Retrieved from
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Engineer775. (2016, February 2). Apostol Rocket Stove. Retrieved March 27, 2021, from
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Evans, I., & Jackson, L. (2007). Rocket Mass Heater cross-section. Cross-Section of a
Typical Rocket Mass Heater.
Evans, I., & Jackson, L. (2007). Rocket Mass Heaters. Cob Cottage. doi:0966373847
Frequently Asked Questions. (n.d.). Retrieved March 30, 2021, from himalayanrocketstove:
https://himalayanrocketstove.com/faq/
Hill, H. (2017, August 2). Rocket Stoves: Tips for Designing Your Own. Retrieved from
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Lebel, J. (2017, March 4). Fires of the future: Meet the Oregon innovators fighting global
pollution with rocket stoves. Retrieved from Planetforward:
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fighting-global-pollution-with-rocket-stoves
(n.d.).L-shape rocket stove. How To Make A Concrete Rocket Stove Easily At Home ? #3.
Thang TV - Creative Craft Ideas. Retrieved from
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=064ZtmvgytA
(2015).Rocket stove heater for a workshop or a room. Retrieved from
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(2017, 9 13).ROCKET STOVE SIDE VIEW. Retrieved from Youtube:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5JaG1m0Q8fo&list=PLZVB2p0QpOb0CIjsnkmRx
UvtEKfG7RMVf
Siepmann, R. (2017). Help required with mini rocket stove. Retrieved 4 12, 2021, from
https://permies.com/t/60398/required-mini-rocket-stove
sjoerdb. (2019). K-shape rocket-stove. Retrieved from
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Takeshi Ueno. (n.d.). CYCLONE BAZOOKA X. Retrieved March 30, 2021, from firecyclone:
http://firecyclone.jp/cyclonebazookax.html
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