Wednesday, May 6, 2009

How does the combustor work in the stove?

Normally, smoke will burn or oxidize, at a temperature of 1000o F or higher.
Burning a stove this hot would require a continuous intense fire and would require a higher wood consumption.

However, wood smoke gases coming in contact with the catalyst will cause chemical changes to take place.

This will then allow the smoke to ignite at temperatures around 500o F. or (260o C.) once the catalytic combustor has lit-off.

This temperature is easily achieved in the firebox of a catalytic wood burning stove.

As the wood gases ignite and burn within the catalytic combustor, clean by-products of water vapor (H2O) and carbon dioxide (CO2) are emitted.

2 comments:

Unknown said...

Can a combustor be attached externally- for example where the stove pipe connects. This would allow older stoves to be less polluting.

Tim Cork said...

Thanks fvfanelli for the question.
Here's how to best get your answer.
From my home page, use the search engine in the upper right hand corner and type in the word..."retrofits". This will give you the details and where to buy a retrofit.
Thanks again,
Tim