[Stoves] Burning charcoal

[AJH]

On Sat, 13 May 2006 08:36:59 -0400, Lanny Henson wrote:

>I have often lit my grilling charcoal in a charcoal starter chimney, by
>maintaining a hole in the center. The hole allows airflow otherwise blocked
>by the charcoal and it starts faster. So I have seen fire in the hole many
>times but I have never seen the continuous steady flames before using this
>wire frame. Something is different!
>It could be: the frame simply maintained a larger hole; or reduced the
>friction, or had some sort of catalytic effect or
>It could have just been the wind.

Ok apart from my thought that the heat was liberating something from
the steel that made the flame more luminous you have identified that
the air supply may have increased so increasing the power. This would
move the combustion of the charcoal to favour more CO production which
would then burn as a larger secondary flame.

Alex has pointed out another mechanism and that is that the charcoal
on either side of the hole is re radiating heat back to the other
side, again this is a temperature enhancing feedback effect that would
push the 2C+02 reaction to favour production of CO rather than CO2,
again needing a secondary flame to complete its combustion.

The test is does it consume the charcoal faster, indicating higher
power?

AJH