CF water cooker


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MarcelvanH
MarcelvanH
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Hey guys,

Thanks for having me on this forum. I am new in the world of composites and want to test an idea with you experts I have been walking with for quite some time.

In the outdoor world everybody is wanting to go lighter and lighter. I wonder if I can make a simple pot for cooking water. Boiling temperature of water is of course 100C and given the thin layer of CF and the conductive properties of CF I would think the pot outside surface will not get any hotter than 100C. I read that CF can take pretty much any temperature and that the limiting factor would be the resin. However a temperature resistant resin could do the trick? 

I am curious on your thoughts on my idea. But please, if you want to react, please give me some proper feedback. Thanks!

PS: I am not a native English speaker so please excuse me for any spelling errors.

Marcel
FLD
FLD
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Interesting idea!  Have you measured the temperature of your heat source?  I'd expect it to be pretty high.  Even though Carbon does conduct I'd have though that surface layer is going to be beyond the upper limit of most resin systems.  Although alloy is heavier that carbon I'd havr thought that would be a better option.

Your english is perfect by the way!
Matthieu Libeert
Matthieu Libeert
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I like your way of thinking! but there is one thing I wouldnt really like is to cook water in a carbonfiber pot with epoxy resin where I would eat out...
think about how carbonfiber parts are made: with chemical resistant masks, gloves,... I'm sure you could find some foodgrade epoxy and so on but I think there
are better alternatives than carbonfiber

Matthieu Libeert
Founder MAT2 Composites X Sports
website:
www.mat2composites.com




Dravis
Dravis
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The problem with making a waterboiler out of CF, is not that it can not handle the temperatures of boiling water... That part is easy.. you can get 180 deg. C.  stable Resin from EC ..And it works fine, I use it for exhaust parts (at the "coolest end....Cool )


The problem is the heat source!!!

Most camping equipment heat sources are small propane/butane burners (most common), petrol or petroleum/kerosene burners, fuel tablets or a camp fire...

For use on a camp fire, a CF "cooking pot" will work fine, as long as you ensure that it has water in it !!  Evaportion at 100 deg. C. boiling waer removes huge amounts of heat energy, this will easily keep the outside of a CF "pot" intact... but only as long as there is water to evaporate.
(North American indians used to make cooking pots from Birch Bark, they would hold up for a small number of cookings, until the boiling water eventually dissolved the material from the inside.)

The problem comes when you accidentally leave the pot, and it boils empty... then it will be ruined very quickly ... an Aluminium pot will survive a lot longer, but you can not melt a titanium pot, no matter what "standard" outdoor heat source you use... it will quite literally survive being left to glow yellow-hot on the burner... then you let it cool, rinse it off, and go back to cooking ...
When you're really "out in the wild" that kind of security can save your life!!
(I am extremely satisfied with my Jetboil Sol Ti... it has only one problem... the heat exchanger fins that make it so quick, are made from soft aluminium, and they WILL melt in a flash, if it boils dry)
I plan to make a CF "protection can" for it, that can double as a cold water pot. ..Smile

"Sapere Aude"... Dare to KNOW!

The written word is the only truly efficient vehicle for transmitting a complex concept from mind to mind...

103% of all people do not understand statistics...

Do not adjust our mind, theres a fault in reality :-)
MarcelvanH
MarcelvanH
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Thanks for your input guys. 

@ Matthieu: I had the exact same thoughts as you did! Obviously I cannot guarantee that there won't be any chemicals leaking into the boiling water. But I did some research online and read that the chemical resistance of the epoxy (once it has set) is quite good.... Nonetheless it is still a risk indeed. Maybe I should do some testing with this... BTW, teflon can also be toxic above 260C but everybody is using non-stick pans right?

@ Dravis: I've recently read a review about the MSR reactor. The guy who wrote this had the same problem. Because of the excessive heat of this burner his pot boiled dry and melted the Aluminium in an instant! Seems to me that you just have to be on gaurd when cooking. But then again, this also counts when you're cooking at home. Also, I have seen this Jetboil TI. It looks and works amazing! No doubt about that. Only thing I did not like was the gas canisters. I like the flexibility and weight savings on a long trek of liquid fuel. That is probably why I bought a Whisperlite.

What would be the best "low tech" way of constructing this pot? I have no intentions of buying a vacuum installation. And would one layer do the trick?
kidpaint
kidpaint
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My first thought was chemical and toxin release also. One way to test it would be to build one, test the water and then pour into the pot. You could go 2 ways with this test from here. Let it sit at room temp for x amount of hrs and then sample the water again to see if any new chemicals show up. Or boil water and test to see if the heat released anything. I would think that for awhile chemicals will be released, but you may get less and less with more you until nothing is released. On the other hand, it could always continue to release chemicals in a non safe amount. I know that while working with things like resin, you need PPE. I often paint motorcycles and cars. I use PPE while painting and clearing also, but once its cured I know longer need it. I know youre not eating off your car, but maybe the harm is mainly in the process and not in the result. 

Does higher temps effect the release of chemicals, and I would assume most people would want this for over a camp fire which would be hard to regulate heat and more than likely over the 100 degree mark. 

In packing of the pot what happens if it gets cracked? Also, will people use utensils to stir soups and stews (cause even though its for water, people will find new uses and not follow safety labels) will these utensils scratch, scuff, or chip at the resin, causing it to break down and get into the food, even if thousandths of a millimeter thick?

Just some things to think about when approaching your build. A great Idea and a good way to think out of the box.  
Edited 10 Years Ago by kidpaint
brainfart
brainfart
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I don't think this will work. The pot needs a minimum thickness for stability, and that means there will be quite some temperature gradient in the wall, since epoxy/carbon conducts heat at least one, probably several orders of magnitude less than metals. The outside of the pot will eventually be attacked by the hot flames and oxidising conditions.
Another factor is chemicals released by the epoxy. While there are resins which are considered food safe (like those used in the inner coating of cans) they are not intended to be heated repeatedly, and I assume most temperature stable resins aren't exactly food grade. A common resin used in high temperature applications and prepregs even contains a substance which is also an effective herbicide. Most bisphenol A based resins will continue to release bisphenol A or related compounds when used at elevated temperatures, especially in acidic environments. While I wouldn't stress too much about this when used only personally, very occasionally or even in an emergency this could get you in trouble when you try to sell this pot. After all bisphenol A might contribute to certain cancers.
Dravis
Dravis
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I tend to concur with "brainfart" ... it probably is not worth the effort..

To make a functional CF "pot" you would need to make a very thin laminate, with a very low ratio of Epoxy to CF (in order to keep a reasonable heat conduction. I do not even see vacuum bagging being enough to ensure this without microscopic air-bubbles that will seriously weaken the "system" in more ways than one, let alone doing it by hand laminating.
I know that for F1 cars some teams make CF transmission cases, as far as I know they are made by using high pressure stainless steel molds, with both an inner and outer mold, and compressed in hydraulic presses with tons of pressure.
This is the only way to ensure a very low resin to CF ratio, and make sure there are no air-bubbles, and they are still X-rayed to sort out any that have issues ...

I think making a one-off of this sort of thing, that really works and is safe to use, will be MUCH more expensive that just buying a titanium pot in an internet outdoor shop... Whistling and probably heavier! my double walled thermo-cup from Japan weighs 100 grams, and holds 400 ml ...  the single wall cups of the same size are half that or less...

Then again... you could probably make one that is just for use as a simple drinking/eating carrying-water pot, which could be used for cooking in an emergency... this is what I'm doing with the "protection can" for my Jetboil.

It will be made from 3 layers of 130 g  plain weave CF, with a food safe coating on the inside.  it will be a two part "can" with a flange at 2/3'rds of the height, so when taken apart I will have a tall and a flat "Pot"

I will make room inside for a very thin 50 cm long x 20 cm high flat sheet of CF, to act as a wind shield when cooking, I will make it thin enough, so that it can be rolled up and put inside the "pot" and the Jetboil inside it.

"Sapere Aude"... Dare to KNOW!

The written word is the only truly efficient vehicle for transmitting a complex concept from mind to mind...

103% of all people do not understand statistics...

Do not adjust our mind, theres a fault in reality :-)
GO

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