My Penny Stove Design

reply to post by Silcone Synapse


Methyl hydrate is what is used to denature ethanol and isopropyl alcohol (IPA) so that it can not be consumed. If you are in a pinch to find methyl hydrate then 50% IPA works very nicely but has slightly less heat to it. I tried 99% IPA but it was a really yellow (sooty) flame. IPA is quite expensive $3 for 500ml.

The formula annotation for methyl hydrate is CH3OH, or abbreviated as MeOH
Wikipedia

Google search "methyl Hydrate 3.78 liter" and you will find what you are looking for.

As for starting the stove:

1) Fill stove nearly to top (the trick is to have a bit of the insulation exposed above the fuel surface).

2) Put 2ml of fuel in the preheat cup

3) Place pot with water/food on stove.

4) Light preheat cup


There is a video of me starting and running the stove here.



Edit to add info.

[edit on 12-4-2010 by dainoyfb]

I love the design, great little stove. My only concern about these sorts of things is the reliance on fuel sources that in a true SHTF scenario just won't be available without storing them in bulk beforehand.
A little off topic I guess but I saw a design for a wood burning design a while back that acheived something like 80% efficiency in a space no bigger than a large coffee can that was pretty impressive. A conical shaped combustion chamber of dirt or sand, and a two section pipe feeding into it, one for fuel to be slid forward into the chamber as needed and the other for air flow, will see if I can dig that one up, looked pretty awesome.