Peter van den Berg

Peter van den Berg is one of the top rocket mass heater innovators in the world.

He started out as a cabinet maker, then was a composite specialist and mold maker at Fokker Aircraft, and also was a master of boats for Delft University among others.

Peter at the Innovator's Event at Wheaton Labs:



Most of his rocket stove developments and experiments can be found here:

Small Scale Development
Adventures With a Horizontal Feed
Rocket/Bell Project
Rocket Bell Stove
Peter van den Berg Batch Box Dimensions

Here are some of the threads he's very active in on permies:

Emergency Small Batch Box
Results of Batch Box Rocket Mass Heater at Innovator's Gathering

Here is the batch box rocket mass heater:



Here are some videos of his stuff:

Peter is so great! He has quietly invested a lot of time and intelligence in rocket mass heaters.

One part of his background that you didn't mention was that he trained for several years in building masonry heaters, however he did not pursue it as a career.
He brings a lot of useful thoughts from that tradition, for example using internal surface area to calculate heat-exchange capacity, or the correct allowance of extra space to avoid restrictions at turns and gaps.
I suspect some of his inspiration for how to improve the fireboxes and fire-layout comes from there too. Coincidentally, all our innovators in 2014 had sailing, surfing, or boat-building experience; these are also disciplines that can bring useful insights into fluid dynamics and how to affect them with 3-D shapes.

I would go so far as to say Peter has a genius for offering little incentives to the fire to help it burn brighter and cleaner.
Of course, it helps that he is working to the data - repeatedly testing with sensitive equipment to verify his predictions. I know what that equipment costs, and I want it, hopefully this year. I don't know how many unsuccessful experiments are behind his remarkably successful ones, but the process must take a great deal of his spare time.

It was a pleasure to talk with him in person about the dynamics of the flames, the exhaust gases, materials and their limits, and obstacles such as chimney stalls which must be overcome for a successful working heater. And I enjoyed watching his quietly precise masonry technique. He used clay and sand as most of us do when building prototypes, but he included details like wiping down the faces as he worked, and installing the second skin that protects the firebox and helps to store heat.

I am grateful that he continues to offer his insights on these forums.

-Erica W

Thank you to peter.

With generous people like him the world would certainly be better!

Peter v.d.Berg or any other who may be able to answer this question..... In your video links in this thread, there is the use of a clear panel through which the fire can be seen. Is that tempered glass? As an alternative, is there a synthetic (plexiglass-like) substitute that one can use given the heat involved? OK, that's two questions....Thanks.

It's known as neoceram.
http://www.neoceram.com/

The manufacturer doesn't seem to talk about the glass, but here is one source for it:
http://www.fireglass.com/glass/neoceram/

Thanks, Glenn. I hope to modify my batch-burner with it.

When I do a batch box, I will study up on Peter's latest designs. I believe he goes by Peter Berg in some circles. Thanks Peter.

It has now been three years and Peter makes a summary about this batch box project.

To see the full build, check out the DVDs.

More details on Peter's "Minnie Mouse"

more with peter.  this is an excerpt from the "Better Wood Heat" 4-dvd set.

Hi Peter

I have somebody on twitter who like to measure the rocket mass heaters or your new design the batch rocket, this guy has a very expensive UFP fine particle meter,
and is a professional one used on universities.

We will do measurement for free,  this way we have a little rapport of the rocket because I do not yet find one on the internet.

Interested?

regards

Hi Peter

I follow up your articles and videos since sometime.
And I found it really, really interesting. How you do it on a quiet professional level.
I’m a professional stove builder with a vocationalmaster in stove building in Germany and I do have my own small stove building company. (www.ofenbau-ruopp.de)
I spent several years in Ethiopia to develop different stoves for household, cooking and baking.
So I would say I have some experiencing in stove building. I’m very much interested in rocket mass heaters and currently, I’m developing one With the aim of high-quality and durable materials.
I’m walking also on a land control device with separately premier and secondary airflow control.

So my question is now: Is it possible to visit your personality once in the Netherlands?
I am around Eastern between17 And 22 April in the Netherlands to visit my aunt and my idea was to combine it to step by in your place to talk a bit about rocket stoves, if you are ready of course.

My contact :
Christoph Ruopp
kontakt@ofenbau-ruopp.de
004915150721025

Have a nice day
Best regards
Christoph Ruopp

Hi Christoph,

Yes, you can visit me in April, no problems there. I'll mail you for further details.

Peter van den Berg wrote:Hi Christoph,

Yes, you can visit me in April, no problems there. I'll mail you for further details.

Hi Peter  that’s nice thank you very much. So I wait just for your email.

Best Regards, Christoph

Dear Peter,


Will you be running any batchbox (or similar) workshops over the next months, in western Europe at all ?


Regards,
Tony.

Yes, I am participating in a workshop during the AFPMA (French mass heater builders association) annual gathering, held from 14th through 18th of May. The venue is a campsite close to the village of Montendre, north of Bordeaux. I did the design, a Shorty core coupled directly to a voluminous (although not very long) bench. It will be a quick build, meant as a proof of concept as opposed to a finished heater.

Good Morning Peter.

First and foremost I want to thank you for all the research you have conducted on RMHs over the years.
Your willingness to share this information has been invaluable for many.

As many projects go, my heater build has been delayed (for various reasons), but that has allowed for further development in the RMH world.

Your design of the Shorty 2 now appear to suit my needs better than any previous constructs.

Can you please tell me if the Shorty 2 core is as scalable as the earlier offerings?

My intent is to build a 7 inch unit (chimney is lined with 8" square clay flue tile).

I did download your SketchUp file for the 6" to better understand the build itself - but you are on the other side of "The Pond" and my bricks don't come with metric measurements!

Do you have a SketchUp of the 7" Shorty 2 with standard US brick sizes (FB 4.5 x 9 x 2.5, splits are 1.25 thick)?

Or can I just scale up from the 6" and re-arrange bricks to meet the up-sized dimensions?

Thanks,
Randy

Randy Butler wrote:Can you please tell me if the Shorty 2 core is as scalable as the earlier offerings?

Affirmative. The development model was a 5" version, during one year after finalizing the design there are a handful of 6" versions done, including at least one sidewinder. And a 7" version even more than a year ago. I am unsure what you mean with Shorty 2, as far as I know there's only one design (apart from the sidewinders).

Randy Butler wrote:Do you have a SketchUp of the 7" Shorty 2 with standard US brick sizes (FB 4.5 x 9 x 2.5, splits are 1.25 thick)?

There's no 7" Shorty core design in US brick sizes yet, but I can draw you one. Don't hold your breath though, I am awfully busy at the moment. Will have time in about two weeks, is that OK to you?

Randy Butler wrote:Or can I just scale up from the 6" and re-arrange bricks to meet the up-sized dimensions?

You could try that as well, it's always a learning curve how to arrange things in such a way that minimal cutting is involved while keeping a running bond.

Much appreciated, Peter.  

I'm still in deep freeze/thaw/mud season here and don't expect to even access the site for a month, much less start a build!

The 7" would be great - IF you get a chance.

I'm certainly not too concerned about plugging away at the design myself - as long as I have a clear understanding of the numbers.

Any chance you have a link to the spreadsheet (or even a jpg version) so I can confirm what I have found so far?

Thanks again,
Randy

Randy Butler wrote:Any chance you have a link to the spreadsheet (or even a jpg version) so I can confirm what I have found so far?

At the moment, no spreadsheet has been made yet. The firebox itself is according to the spreadsheet of the original batchrocket though. If you scale the whole of the thing up in Sketchup, until the width of the firebox reach the correct value then you're done.

Thank you, Sir!!

Lots of grey weather this week, so I'll have some time to putter on it.