[Stoves] Just add a fan.

[Tom Miles]

Crispin wrote: 
>Running the air from the other side tends to make the tips glow brightly
and burn faster than the fuel
>behind (and sheltered by) the material at the 'hot end'.

>As the entry of air with the fuel is almost inevitable, there is a 'meeting
of two airs' at the fire, the 
>direction being opposite and mostly cancelling each other above the fire.
But at the tips of the sticks,the
>reverse air is preferred so as to burn it brightly and to limit the
drop-off of partially burned wood.

We would adjust the velocity of the jets of the opposed air so that the air
just kisses the burning fuel. When you get it right this air burns the
carbon, as Crispin describes, but it also wipes away the boundary layer -
the fog of water vapor and gases that comes out of the burning wood. This
improves burning by allowing direct contact of the combustion air with the
char - just like blowing on a fire.

For those of you who have used fans, are you able to reduce the (excess)
combustion air? Matt sized his blower for 26% excess air (1.26 x
stoichiometric air) which is well below what you have in a natural draft
stove. He made a good little (0.7 kW) hot fire.

Tom