Do not put this device in the oven! How "Eternal Log" reduces the efficiency of burning wood

On the Internet, you can find many dubious inventions, one of which is the "Eternal Log". This device is credited with miraculous properties, namely: increasing the efficiency of burning firewood and saving them up to 50%. But this is not at all the case. Let's explain why.

What is "Eternal Log"

"Eternal log" is a container made of a metal pipe, plugged on both sides. A neck with a stopper is welded into the top of the container. And also in the upper part of the pipe there are several holes for steam outlet. Legs are welded at the bottom to install the device in working position.

The container is filled with hot water, placed in the firebox and lined with wood. Further, the wood is kindled and the container is heated, from which water in the form of steam comes out through the holes. According to the inventor and adherents of the "Eternal Log", steam treatment of firewood improves the combustion and heating of the heat exchanger.

Two questions to fill in

Why waste time and money on such a steam generator, if you can just put an ordinary wet log in the firebox?

If the water burns, then why do people still extract oil, gas and coal?

Where did it all come from?

The idea arose from common knowledge that water contains oxygen and hydrogen. Oxygen supports combustion and hydrogen burns well on its own. If you split the water into these components, you get an excellent fuel. A good idea!

There is even such a formula: carbon (fuel) with water gives out pure hydrogen and carbon monoxide. C + H2O = H2 + CO. Carbon monoxide (CO) is burned down to CO2 with the help of oxygen and hydrogen and heat energy is obtained. Everything seems to be simple and correct.

Some more followers of the "Eternal Log", as a confirmation of their theory, argue that water is supplied to steam locomotive furnaces to increase efficiency. But this is not done entirely to increase the efficiency, but to increase the draft of the exhaust from the pipe.

It also has an additional effect of cleaning the furnace from soot. Water in the firebox causes a small volumetric "explosion": a sharply boiling liquid increases in volume and is able to clean the firebox and chimney.

And a clean firebox is really an increase in efficiency, since soot on the walls is a heat insulator, which prevents heat transfer to the boiler jacket. There is some truth in this.

But, this is on condition that water is supplied to the closed firebox of the locomotive, in which the temperature reaches 1500-1600 degrees. In an ordinary household stove, where the combustion temperature is on average 650 degrees, this effect cannot be achieved.

Why Eternal Log Doesn't Work

The water vapor will only make the wood burn worse. To achieve the effect of combustion from water, it must be decomposed into oxygen and hydrogen. In the oven, this can only be done by thermolysis - the decomposition of a substance under the influence of high temperature without the use of catalysts.

To do this, it is necessary to reach a combustion temperature of over 1476 degrees Celsius. Then the water is guaranteed to decompose into oxygen and hydrogen, but an explosion will immediately occur, but without the quotes.

The fact is that one liter / kilogram of water contains 1234 liters of hydrogen and 604 liters of oxygen. Hydrogen is a very flammable substance. If someone succeeds in splitting one liter of water into oxygen and hydrogen with the help of the "Eternal Log" in their stove, then neither the stove nor the house will remain!

Reverse benefit

A few more numbers. Oxidation of hydrogen, that is, its combustion (H2 + O = H2O) is accompanied by the release of heat. But the reverse reaction - the process of decomposition of water, takes place with significant heat absorption. Now the question is: how much heat energy is spent on this?

The answer is simple and disappointing for the Eternal Log adepts. If the decomposition of water into components takes 100% of thermal energy, then when burning hydrogen and carbon monoxide, we will receive only 75% of the same energy. This is disadvantageous and highly ineffective.

Last trump

The eternal captives still have one more trump card: the heat capacity of water vapor is twice as high as the heat capacity of air, which means that it will warm up the stove better. But here everything is also simple and obvious.

Water vapor takes heat energy from the combustion products. But only the thermal energy should be transferred to the heat exchanger, and not the steam, which will throw all the heat into the pipe - and this is already a decrease in the overall efficiency of the furnace. With the help of water vapor, heat is not absorbed, but lost. It's simple physics.

What is the bottom line

By all accounts, "Eternal Log" will not give any sense and heat, will not clear the chimney from soot.

It will proceed as follows:

• the water in the tank will boil, turn into steam and get onto the combustion products, which will knock out the flame and reduce the combustion efficiency;
• in 15–30 minutes, all the water will evaporate, taking heat along the way and carrying it out into the street through a pipe;
• when the water evaporates, the container will heat up and lie like a dead weight in the firebox.

That's all the log!

Warning

There is another technology circulating in the network telling about the "Eternal Log" on used engine oil or on a mixture of water and diesel fuel. We strongly advise against even trying this. This is a direct threat to health, life and property.

Now the era of smartphones and the Internet, and "useful" advice can be broadcast even from a psychiatric clinic. And by the way: A Ph.D. in engineering is not always a scientific degree - sometimes it is a diagnosis of network experts. Check information, consult with experts, look for evidence or refutation!

What wonder fuel from the internet raised your questions? Write in the comments!

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