Testing: Final Model of Charcoal Stove

For the testing round of this project we used charcoal fuel, and placed 32 fl.oz. of water in a pan on top of the cookstove. We compared each stove based on its ability to heat/boil water over the course of time.

Structurally our stove was successful. It did not bend with the head of the charcoal, or collapse under the pressure of the water and pan. The chimney worked as we wanted it too, sucking the smoke up and away through the long spout. Although the chimney was perfect for people working on the ground, it was a little short for those who were standing. It release the smoke directly at eye level. Another one of the issues we had with our stove was the fact that it did not provide enough oxygen into the fuel chamber. Although we had cut out a large opening on the bottom of the stove, it was not enough. We began by taking the temperature of the water prior to heating, and then measured it at 6-10 minute intervals. The temperature began at 25.5 degrees celsius, and seemed to climb steadily; however once the kindling flame went out, the burning process slowed down, plateaued, and eventually just went back down. (See Graph Below)

It seems that because of the lack of oxygen the stove was not able to perform as strongly as we had wanted it to. We also took the fuel tray out of the stove while we were explaining our project, and that seems to have had an affect on the temperature of the water as well.