Could a stove combine 2ndary air combustion AND a CAT?

[SmokeyCity]

What if you took a NC stove like the 30NC and added a CAT at the entrance to the exit pipe - assuming you did the flow ergonomics right to let the right rate of exit gases hit the CAT correctly etc......

Could you get additional combustion by letting the cat get what the SS pipes did not ?

I have not seen any articles of this being tried - or debunked.

It seems like a logical idea to consider

 

[SmokeyCity]

Im replying to myself here to say I found someone who did this very thing with an old non epa stove. He added BOTH the 2ary tubes and a CAT!

http://www.builditsolar.com/Projects/BioFuel/CatRetrofit/CatRetrofit.htm


I would like to add a CAT to my 30NC (Im buying a second 30NC this week :=) so Ill have a spare if I destroy my old one.

I dont know why im so fascinated with this stuff - why I get such a kick out of squeezing more BTUs and a cleaner burn out of my stove.
Must be the engineer in me

 

[RNLA]

I know nothing about cat stoves but it does seem like it could work. The secondary tubes are a way to draw air into the box after it is up to temp and you close the primary air intake. To me it seems like it may be a help to the secondary "barrel roll" air movement by keeping air temps hotter in the box thus burning even longer by restricting air flow more. I am not an engineer.... :lol:

 

[North of 60]

Have a look at Woodstocks site. They have such an animal in the works and maybe in production, I am not sure.
Its called their hybrid.

 

[SolarAndWood]

Who had that $2k BK so I can buy it in case I roast mine?

 

[SmokeyCity]

Goto Blaze King website and look at dealer locator

find the dealer in Punxy PA.

BTW that quote did not include blowers and some of the other basics hardware :=(

the devil is in the details

Who had that $2k BK so I can buy it in case I roast mine?

 

[SolarAndWood]

the devil is in the details

Always is. If you have to heat from the basement, why not put two 30s down there and let them rip?

 

[Mt Ski Bum]

oddly enough, I was just wondering about that question myself- it seems like it'd be the ultimate EPA stove- secondary burn tubes to burn off smoke in the firebox & a catalytic converter to take care of the remaining smoke that the secondary burn didn't get!

 

[henkmeuzelaar]

Seems to me this might be the perfect application for one of these add-on catalytic stove dampers

Henk

 

[pen]

My concern is that secondary air needs a lot of draft to work properly. A cat being engaged would reduce the pull in the stove.

Also, I wonder how much "smoke" it takes to even allow the cat to engage? If there isn't enough fuel for it to burn because the secondary air burned most of it, not sure how the cat would do.

But, as woodstock is doing anything is possible I'm just mentioning some of the things I am sure they are needing to address in their new design.

pen

 

[spacecowboyIV]

North of 60 has it right, Woodstock is working on one. Vermont Castings has the only stove in production that I know of that has both a catalyst and secondary burn system in one stove.

 

[Todd]

The cat will still need a little secondary air in front of it to lite off. If you stick it in the exhaust collar it may be too far away from the secondary air supply.

 

[EatenByLimestone]

I think it would depend on if there is still combustible air in the exhaust. I doubt it is all CO2 and H2O going up there.

I wonder if there would be a way to do a passive cat combustion. I've read where they sprayed car radiators with a catalyst and they cleaned the air when driving down the road by pulling the air through it while cooling the car. Could the upper area above the baffle be sprayed with a similar catalyst? Could the first section of pipe be sprayed so any unburnt fuel passing over it could be combusted? If lightoff is at 400 degrees, my stovetop at 500-700 is more than hot enough.

Matt

 

[WES999]

Yes, the guy who builds the Elm stoves built one.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2JdCQCtJyQo

 

[BrotherBart]

The last thing I want in a 30-NC is something making more heat. The sucker loves to run at a clean six hundred and up. In fact keeping it from doing that can be a chore. A cat needs a chamber to transfer the heat to the stove body. Come up with that in three inches of available space and what do you have? A 1,500 degree stove? A puddle in the floor that used to be a wood stove?

What is the objective here? If your 30 ain't burning clean and efficiently, you're doing something wrong that a cat in the pipe ain't gonna fix. Well, except maybe melt the pipe if by chance that cat can find enough left over stuff to burn. Which it won't.

 

[North of 60]

North of 60 has it right, Woodstock is working on one. Vermont Castings has the only stove in production that I know of that has both a catalyst and secondary burn system in one stove.

Ahhh yes, I totaly forgot about the VCs two in one. A few members have one here. Good tinking.

 

[BrotherBart]

Isn't the VC an "either or" stove? Don't know. Just asking.

 

[certified106]

Isn't the VC an "either or" stove? Don't know. Just asking.

It sort of is either or but not really, how is that for an answer.
If you watch the videos posted on the 2in1 thread they explain how it works way better than I can do it justice.
However here is the short version, even with the cat in place it still has a secondary burn before the cat.
When the cat is removed it just has a secondary burn and I believe a third burn in the burn chamber below the cat.