----- Original Message -----
Sent: Sunday, January 06, 2002 2:44
PM
Subject: Re: "Worlds Most Efficient
Stove" Contest
Dear Kevin,
Can I propose an alternative contest?
Sure can!! :-)
1: Fastest time to boil
2: Most efficient
3: Lowest cost stove to boil 1 litre in 5 minutes
4: Worlds fastest 8" diameter pancake cooker.
5: Worlds fastest wood fueled teapot.
6: etc..
are all very different alternative
contests.
Seeing who can boil one litre the fastest tests what stove
can blow up all the wood at once, which seems to have less than optimal
correlation to the real world of fuel efficient cooking.
I fully agree that "the fastest stove contest" would be
unlikely to give an optimal or practical stove. However, I feel that with the
warm summer months coming, and with the need for summertime entertainment,
there would be lots of opportunity for fundamental advancements on heat
transfer and rapid and complete combustion to be implemented and proven. I am
sure that we will be all very impressed at the clever ways that people come up
with to attempt to win their $100. The important thing will be the practical
fallout which wil result from the "basic research" that flows from such a
focused contest.
But, I love the idea of a contest and Aprovecho would throw
in another hundred dollars to the builder of the stove that:
Great!! Perhaps you (and others) could propose other
specific Contests that would lead to advancements in areas of particular
interest.
Using a twelve inch in diameter pot and ten
litres of water can achieve 50% fuel efficiency figuring 8600 BTU's per pound
of wood, 1005 BTU's per pound of water boiled away, when burning two pounds of
wood. As of today, the Rocket could edge into the 40%s with fancy skirts so I
know that we wouldn't win this prize.
OK... no problem!! Make up the contest rules
for a particular contest, so that you have a better chance of winning it!! :-)
Be worth a hundred to see who could. No fans,
made from vernacular materials, cost less than ten dollars.
How about it?
May I suggest that, in general, there be as few
restrictions as possible, to leave the door open for the maximum in creative
activity? The contests need not be directly practical.... they could be
considered "R&D projects". However, there should be some basic
rules, so that an "apples and apples comparison" is possible.
You may wish to configure a Contest which encourages the
Entrants to focus on a problem area of interest to you. This can be a very
cost effective way to get a lot of good basic stove research
done.
At any rate, I am sure a lot of us are building, or would
like to build "fun stoves", and the various types of contests available
would serve to focus our efforts in a particular direction. Finally, the
Contest could provide a forum for the dissemination of cleverness in stove
design and construction.
This could be a very fun thing, and these various contests
could lead to some very practical fallout in the wonderful world of
stoves.
Kindest regards,
Kevin Chisholm
