To our mind, the gas-powered camping stove has come a long way from the feeble flames of our Scouting days. Regardless, contemporary cookers better watch out, as a team of students from the ETH Zurich Design and Tech lab and the Zurich University of the Arts, lead by ETH doctoral candidate Julian Ferchow, has developed the killer camp stove.
Impervious to wind and other external influences, PeakBoil is an exercise in engineering that not only tackles the wind issue, but improves efficiency in transferring heat to the water or food within the stove’s kettle.
The project was recently lauded as a winner in the 3D Pioneers Challenge and presented alongside a handful of other innovative 3D printing ventures at the Rapid.Tech + FabCon 3.5 exhibition.
It works by containing the flame within a bundt-cake shaped kettle, which is rippled. “This increases the contact area between the flame and the jug,” explains Ferchow. Inside the burner itself, specially designed Venturi nozzles “ a localized drop in pressure. This increases airflow, which improves the quality of the flame and boosts efficiency” he continues.
Additively manufactured from stainless steel using selective laser melting, a process by which layer upon layer of fine metal powder are sintered together by a high power computer controlled laser. The novel design would likely be impossible to produce using non-additive production methods.
With such a refined example nailed on and winning prizes, the PeakBoil seems set to lead to larger, more industrial applications. “We can use PeakBoil as a demonstrator to show companies just what additive manufacturing is capable of and what you need to pay special attention to in your design” Ferchow adds.
Sadly for hiking and camping enthusiasts in search of a quick trail-made tea, the PeakBoil is unlikely to make it to retail anytime soon. While Ferchow and co continue to develop and refine the design, take solace in the knowledge that the prototype PeakBoil was tough enough to take a trip to the top of Säntis, the highest mountain in the Alpstein massif, and heat the team’s water without a hitch.
Source: Phys.org
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