Raising the flame closer to the pot reduces heat dissipation. Also, as the fuel burns, it emits CO2 which interferes with combustion. That is what causes the flame to bounce around as it burns. The air-gap around the edge of the can provided by the heat intensifier enables the flame to pull in fresh air for a hotter, cleaner burn. Finally, a windscreen helps to direct heat and help with dissipation. Incorporating the three of these principles into a design for a small burner would work with efficiency for solid fuel, as well.
Stumbled across this video. It made me laugh because you technically explained how everything works, timed your tests, etc. I hope to be able to (someday) record the technical aspects as you do. Very cool! Thank you.
It's a venturi effect. The flame acting as the jet. By placing the intensifier, the expanding flame/ hot gasses rise, entraining additional air through the sides and increasing total net output. It'd be interesting to measure fuel consumption. Nothing comes without cost.
I wonder what would happen if you raised the sterno so that the flame would be the same height as it was with the intensifier, but without using the intensifier
Seems like the heat intensifier could be made easily with a small can of some kind. Also, I recommend a simple cooker made with a tuna can, spooled cardboard and paraffin wax (from old candles), old cooking oil, etc, and make a camp stove with a large coffee can, and a pot with a smaller coffee can and coat-hanger wire... You can also make your own charcoal with sticks and branches, but I'd make sure to vent outdoors, or use outdoors, only. Forage in summer, heat in the winter. No need to spend money on this stuff.
seems the best way to use the sterno to boil water, cook bacon, or anything that was on the box would be to use some of the gel to start a bigger fire with wood. that would also help the expensive gel last longer. lol. Nice video.
I found a sterno in a cottage I emptied recently. Are the cooking pots any good on their own? Any experience using them on a different stove? I know virtually nothing about camp stoves.
Wouldn't the boil time be quicker if you just raised the plain Sterno can up by 3/4" or so, so that the flame height was the same as the flame from the heat intensifier? I've found this with many stoves, even the burner supplied with Swedish Army stoves, raise the base a little to optimise the flame -yellow/white flame-tip not good! In the UK Highlander Outdoor make a stove that seems (to me) to be nothing more than some kind of Chafing gel can, with an included pot stand, and, for what it is is, I am reasonably impressed; no risk of leaky alcohol, a hard fuel container that is also the stove, a reasonable pot stand that is also a windscreen. Yeah, I know gel fuels can't be as hot as liquid fuels, but they burn longer and are less a hazard either packed away or on the ground with clumsy people about. Also, in my experience, alcohol stoves burn too hot to do much useful cooking, unless it is an optimal quantity...unless the flame can be regulated as with a Trangia type alcohol stove. I think the whole process of cooking outdoors is about compromise and using what works for the individual. Most times fry bacon and eggs in a non hard-anodized aluminium pan, and they will stick using alcohol ...unless using a little water to regulate the temperature...but I've found that gel, while taking longer, food doesn't tend to stick to the same pan as much.
Thanks, Hiram for this interesting video. What is the height and diameter of the intensifier. I would like to find a can comparable in size to make an intensifier. It cuts the boil time in half .Any thoughts on a model?
You do not need a heat intensifier the distance between the can and what you are heating up or cooking matters an Empty clean paint tin would do a few hole's in the tin to give it some air flow then place the heating tin in the paint tin then light and you should be OK. I have heated up tins of soup. chicken curry. Noodles and dried pasta in a pot with 5 candles and it worked this would work better. you must capture the heat for best results.
Hey Hiram, just wondering if you could answer me, What do you do when theres 20 minutes, do you sit there, or do you go work on other stoves or something?
In your video, "Sterno Speed Cook with Heat Intensifier - Boil Tests - Reloaded" at one minute, 18 seconds into the video, you show a substitute pot stand. Where did you find this stand? I'd like to buy one just like it.
