secondary combustion in a CAT stove?

[ozarkjeep]

so, this morning, I re-stoked the fireplace.

built a BIG HOT fire, 600 degree top of stove temp.

shut the air intake down, and for almost 1 solid minute, saw secondary combustion whisping away right under the shelf that houses the cat combustor.

Now, my cat is worn out I think, i had the cat damper bypass OPEN ( cat NOT engaged)

the secondary combustion went out after a minute or so, I assume it ran out of available oxygen with the intake completely closed.

so NOW im thinking.

I want to ad some stainless tubes in the top, with holes drilled, and have a control outside to control that secondary burn tube airflow.

a cat stove, AND a non cat secondary system in the same stove.
I need some scrap stainless tubing ( about 4 feet), and some time with a drill bit, and some flat stock to make the door to control the airflow.

Has anyone else ever seen secondary combustion in a stove that is NOT equipped with secondary tubes?

 

[BrotherBart]

Sure. My old pre-EPA stove did secondary combustion up at the baffle throughout the burn. When you had that stove up to six hundred you had a firebox temp of around 1,200 and that will light off any gases that come in contact with air. Probably from your airwash from the glass.

 

[ozarkjeep]

ok, so the principle of secodnary combustion is as simple as adding some fresh oxygen to the 1200 gases?

Sure. My old pre-EPA stove did secondary combustion up at the baffle throughout the burn. When you had that stove up to six hundred you had a firebox temp of around 1,200 and that will light off any gases that come in contact with air. Probably from your airwash from the glass.

 

[BrotherBart]

Essentially. Now how much and preheating it is the challange.

 

[ozarkjeep]

how much is easily handled by an adjustable damper on the secondary air input, Ill just have to adjust it to get a sustained burn.

preheating doesnt seem to be much of an issue

Essentially. Now how much and preheating it is the challange.

 

[BrotherBart]

Why worry about it? Kick in the cat and let it do its thing.

 

[ozarkjeep]

true enough, but right now for instance, my wood is covered in snow, and wet, so im not engaging the cat much PLUS I think its worn out. ( i will replace it when I get a chance to try with dry wood)

But the fact that I can get secondary burn with this barely seasoned wet wood, makes me think it might be of benifit to have that capability also.

a bit more RnD to do, but it doesnt seem to require too much time, effort, or materials to see it thru.