On 21 Apr 2003 at 10:07, Alan Riach wrote: hotter "oven" of combusted > material will be maintained in the smoker ensuring that it stays lit > much better. Hi all The main purpose of a smoker is to produce smoke-and that is an objective that the vast majority of general combustion work is aiming to prevent. This suggests that changes designed to make a smoker burn better or hotter may be running counter to what is required. A smoker needs to burn in a such a way that, when additional air is supplied through the bellows, the resulting combustion is relatively poor-judged by normal combustion standards- liberating unburnt carbon particles in the outgoing airflow to form the smoke. This suggests that perhaps a low temperature, smouldering type of combustion is required, rather than a hot, burning fire. It may be why a shredded and closely packed smoker fuel, with a great deal of surface area combusting at the same time, works better. There appear to be some similarities with a cigarette combustion. In the unblown situation the cigarette smoulders very slowly, but when a draft is applied, smoke and other chemicals are liberated for a short duration, after which the slow smouldering is resumed almost immediately. Perhaps we need to take up James Fisher's proposal to design a better smoker from scratch, based on sound physical principles. My own limited experience of combustion suggests that this may be a difficult activity-especially if a wide range of materials is to be burnt. On a related note, the analogy with cigarette combustion makes me wonder if beekeepers should be concerned about the possible effects of smoker-produced smoke on their health. I am pretty sure that smoke from most cellulose based fuels will contain many of the unpleasant chemicals in tobacco smokes that are accused of causing damage to health. Mike Rowbottom HARROGATE North Yorks UK :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: -- Visit www.honeybeeworld.com/BEE-L for rules, FAQ and other info --- ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::