The Stainless Steel Winiarski Stove Top

The other day, I watched as Dr. Winiarski’s stainless steel stove top (sold by BURN and SSM) helped to force 43% of the heat from a hot fire into a 30cm in diameter flat bottom pot without a pot skirt. 

The improved stove top adds a lot to a stove! It is probably the most cost effective way to start improving a stove. What do we think it does?

• Maintaining ~0.75 of constant cross sectional area in the stove top may help to thin the boundary layer of still air next to the bottom of the pot so hot molecules in the gases can replace cold molecules close to the bottom of the pot more effectively. 

• The restricted flow may help to maintain a beneficial air/fuel ratio (elevating temperatures) by decreasing the excess flow of cold air into the combustion chamber.

Evolving heat transfer “rules of thumb”:

1. Raising the temperature of the gases will increase efficiency. 
2. Moving hot gases closer to the boundary layer will increase thermal efficiency until gas velocity is slowed. 
3. Increasing exposed surface area will increase thermal efficiency until gas temperature reaches the temperature of the water in the pot, for example. 
4. Increasing radiation will improve efficiency. 
5. Increasing the velocity of the gases will also increase thermal efficiency, making sure that gas temperatures are not reduced by excess velocity.