Project Background

We entered this project with 2 goals: -Document and solve recurring functional issues with the tent heaters

-Build several heaters and distribute them to local houseless encampments

Overview The heaters are isopropyl alcohol burning stoves. They are comprised of a copper coil burner, cotton wicks, and a mason jar fuel "tank". The cotton wicks are fed into the coils to wick alcohol fumes from the fuel tank into the coils. The coils have an outlet that when lit allows the flame to escape. The flame heats up the copper coil causing the alcohol in the wicks to evaporate and continuously fuel the flame. To extinguish the flame you should be able to blow it out like a candle or flood the coil by tipping over the system. Additionally, the system sits in a base which holds a mesh cage around the system. This cage acts as a safety precaution and also holds up a terra cotta pot which helps store and radiate the heat produced.

 

Diagram of heater and some preliminary issues

Past Work Prior to receiving funding from experiment, my partner and I built and distributed ~10 heaters. We had several issues throughout and subsequent to building these heaters namely build efficiency, safety, and the robustness of the flame.

-Build efficiency: It took 7 people several weeks to build ~10 partially functioning heaters.

-Flame robustness: The flames were so small that the copper coil could not sustain its heat. The flame would eventually shrink and self extinguish.

-Safety: To fix the issue with flame robustness, we tested different cotton wick materials. We found cotton towels worked the best. However, we found that alcohol began to pool near the outlet and eventually overflow. To us this posed a significant safety hazard, however, we were unsure how to fix this while still maintaining the robust flame.