Initial Learnings and Strategic Redirection

Status: Foundational Entry
Purpose: Document early learning and directional decisions

Purpose of This Progress Log (Landing Page)

This progress log documents the Heart Initiative’s journey as it works to translate intention into reality. It exists to record learning, decision-making, and disciplined progression, including moments when paths were paused, redirected, or intentionally abandoned based on evidence and experience.

This log is not a record of activity or milestones. It is a record of judgment.

At this stage, the Heart Initiative is not seeking financial contributions. We welcome prayer for wisdom and discernment, and we anticipate that future deployment partnerships—when appropriate—will occur intentionally through Breath of Life International and aligned mission organizations.

Entries are published only when meaningful progress, or substantive directional decisions are made.

This log documents learning and decision-making, not progress toward a predetermined outcome.

Inception: 2024

This initiative did not begin with a cookstove. It began with a group of Mission-focused people, solar and combustion engineers, project managers, some just good cooks and a series of hypotheses about how best to reduce the daily burden of cooking in remote and resource-constrained regions.

This entry documents the learning that shaped the current direction, not as a retrospective justification, but as a record of the decisions and constraints that inform how the work now proceeds.

Our earliest approach focused on solar-powered electric cooking as a means to eliminate reliance on biomass fuels altogether. The concept aligned with long-term sustainability goals and appeared technically viable under expected conditions.

Constraints identified:

• high upfront cost
• reliability challenges in remote environments
• maintenance and repair complexity
• training burden on users and partners
• limited long-term serviceability

Decision:
This approach was terminated.

Core lesson:
Solutions that depend on new energy supply chains, High cost, low life-cycle components, specialized maintenance, or sustained external support introduce risk that overwhelms potential benefit in remote regions.

Following termination of the initial solar-electric cooking concept, the initiative pursued a second hypothesis: that a conventional improved cookstove (ICS), optimized for cleaner combustion and improved efficiency while using locally available fuels, could deliver meaningful reductions in emissions and fuel use without altering established cooking behaviors.

Intent

The objective was to improve combustion efficiency and emissions performance within a familiar biomass stove architecture, while maintaining compatibility with existing fuels and household practices.

Early Results

Early prototypes met several technical objectives. Combustion was stable, emissions were improved relative to open fires, and total heat release was sufficient in principle to support cooking tasks.

One configuration, designated M1, was subjected to extended testing to evaluate operational stability and subsystem behavior.

What Worked

Testing confirmed that the sloped fuel tube with an oxygen-limiting cap performed as intended. With a design fuel load of approximately 1.25 kg/hr, the stove sustained a robust, unattended burn for 60–70 minutes.

Fuel introduced through the tube was effectively preheated, with combustion initiating only upon entry into the firebox. This validated controlled devolatilization and demonstrated that stable combustion and sufficient heat generation could be achieved using simple, passive mechanisms.

What Failed

Despite adequate heat generation, the M1 configuration failed to deliver that energy effectively to the cooking vessel. Heat transfer to the pot was inefficient and inconsistent, resulting in poor cooking performance relative to the available thermal output.

Additionally, combustion performance with air-dried dung fuel proved unreliable, further limiting applicability under real-world fuel conditions.

Operationally, the stove exhibited:

• insufficient forgiveness under imperfect use
• friction that discouraged habitual daily adoption
• limited robustness for unattended, long-term service

Key Insight

These outcomes clarified that the limiting factor was not combustion, but heat delivery.

M1 demonstrated that stable combustion and sufficient heat release are necessary but insufficient conditions for successful cooking. The inability to couple available heat to the pot emerged as the governing unresolved variable.

What had been framed as a combustion-efficiency problem was, in fact, a heat-transfer problem.

Decision

The early ICS approach was terminated as a complete cooking solution. While validated subsystems were retained for future use, the overall architecture was deemed incapable of reliably supporting daily cooking under real-world conditions.

These findings prompted a deliberate pause and a fundamental reframing of the problem.

Rather than attempting to improve combustion within conventional ICS architectures, the initiative shifted toward working with existing fuels, behaviors, and supply realities, while reducing the time, effort, and fuel those realities impose.

This reframing directly informed the start of the RHT-C01 development effort, guided by the following priorities:

• compatibility with existing fuels and established cooking practices
• sufficient cooking capability to reliably prepare staple foods under real-world conditions
• reduced fuel consumption, achieved only after sufficient cooking energy is established
• simplicity of operation without significant reliance on training. If training cannot be performed by the deployment team, the system is too complex.
• extreme durability and tolerance to imperfect, inconsistent, or unattended use
• habit formation as a design requirement, not an outcome

This marked a fresh start—not in pursuit of incremental efficiency gains, but in pursuit of reliable cooking capability first, with efficiency treated as a secondary consequence rather than the primary objective.

What Has Not Changed

Across all directional changes, the objective has remained constant:

To provide a practical, durable cooking platform that reduces the daily burden of preparing food—saving time, effort, and fuel—while enabling safer and healthier cooking under real-world conditions.

Applying Phase Gate

The current effort will proceed only through defined phase gates, beginning with confirmation that the cooking platform can prepare staple foods across diverse cuisines without requiring behavior change.

Future entries will be published only after meaningful decisions are made.

This log documents learning and decision-making, not progress toward a predetermined outcome.

Context:
Early development efforts focused on improving combustion efficiency within conventional improved cookstove architectures. While emissions and fuel-use metrics showed incremental improvement, cooking performance under real-world conditions remained inconsistent and frequently inadequate for staple food preparation.

Observation:
Comparative analysis of historical wood- and coal-fired cooking practices, modern electric smooth-top ranges, and contemporary gas griddles revealed a common governing principle: effective cooking performance in open areas must be driven primarily by radiant and conductive heat transfer to the vessel, not by direct flame or combustion optimization alone.

In legacy wood and coal stoves, sufficient cooking performance was routinely achieved by allowing flame to heat a cast-iron intermediary that delivered concentrated radiant and conductive energy directly to the cooking vessel. Modern electric ranges achieve the same outcome using electrically heated transfer surfaces. Contemporary gas griddles demonstrate similar principles at lower heat flux densities by spreading energy over large surface areas.

The distinguishing variable is not the energy source, but heat flux density and transfer geometry.

Discovery:
By concentrating available thermal energy into a compact radiant transfer structure (approximately 228 mm / 9” diameter), it is possible to achieve cooking-relevant heat flux densities sufficient to meet real-world cooking demands while decoupling stove performance from flame stability, fuel variability, and precise user control.

This reframing revealed that many ICS failures stem not from poor combustion efficiency, but from insufficient total useful energy delivery caused by diffuse heat transfer and undersized thermal coupling.

Decision:
Abandon efficiency-first, combustion-centric design approaches and reframe the cooking problem around deliberate radiant heat transfer (RHT) as the primary mechanism for achieving sufficient cooking capability.

Efficiency and fuel reduction would thereafter be treated as secondary outcomes, achievable early and naturally once sufficient radiant and conductive coupling is established.

This reframing marked the formal start of the RHT-C01 development path.

Implication:
Subsequent design decisions would prioritize:

• concentrated heat delivery over distributed flame exposure
• transfer geometry over combustion refinement
• robustness and tolerance over precision control

The objective shifted from “burning fuel more cleanly” to delivering cooking-relevant heat reliably, using locally available fuels, under imperfect real-world conditions.

Context:
Following the reframing of the cooking problem around deliberate radiant heat transfer (RHT), attention shifted to ensuring that combustion within the firebox could reliably support sufficient heat delivery across variable biofuels while remaining robust under imperfect use.

Observation:
Initial firebox concepts were volumetrically generous and geometrically compact, resembling box-like enclosures intended to simplify construction. Early modeling and comparative analysis suggested that these geometries constrained residence time, limited vertical combustion development, and restricted effective air staging.

Drawing on prior experience with pulverized-coal (PC) utility boilers—which employ slender furnace geometries with multiple levels of staged combustion air, it became evident that geometry and air introduction height play a first-order role in combustion completeness, independent of fuel scale.

Discovery:
Analysis indicated that biofuel combustion benefits from a height-to-width ratio substantially greater than utility, enabling:

• progressive devolatilization and char burnout
• adequate residence time for secondary combustion
• controlled mixing of combustion air without quenching

Evidence further suggested that multi-level combustion air introduction, properly proportioned and located, significantly improves combustion completeness by:

• supporting staged oxidation
• reducing unburned volatiles
• stabilizing the combustion core across fuel variability

These findings closely mirrored established utility-scale boiler practice, scaled appropriately to biofuel systems.

Decision:
Abandon box-like firebox geometries and adopt a slender, vertically developed combustion chamber, with a preliminary height-to-base ratio of approximately 1.5:1, as the baseline for RHT-C01 development.

Firebox sizing would thereafter be governed by:

• combustion residence time requirements
• staged air delivery effectiveness
• compatibility with the RHT heat-transfer architecture, rather than by enclosure simplicity alone.

Implication:
This decision established the first physically constrained geometry of the RHT-C01 system and directly informed:

• preliminary firebox dimensions
• the number and elevation of combustion air inlets
• the integration of combustion behavior with radiant heat delivery

Subsequent design iterations would refine air distribution and geometry but would remain bound by this slender, staged-combustion framework.

RHT-C01 Design, Development, and Deployment Doctrine

Purpose

This doctrine governs how decisions are made as the initiative evolves. It exists to preserve alignment under technical, financial, and schedule pressure and serves as a reference point when tradeoffs arise.

If a decision conflicts with this doctrine, the doctrine prevails.

1. Adoption Is the Multiplier

No technical achievement has value unless it results in sustained, voluntary daily use.

Adoption is not a communications challenge or a cultural obstacle. It is a design responsibility.

2. Work With Reality, Not Against It

Design decisions prioritize compatibility with:

• existing fuels
• existing cooking practices
• existing cultural norms

Solutions requiring new supply chains, complex maintenance, or ongoing training are presumed unsustainable unless proven otherwise.

3. Reduce Pressure, Do Not Impose Change

The initiative does not seek to persuade or re-educate users. It seeks to reduce time, effort, and fuel required to meet an existing daily need.

Health and environmental benefits are outcomes—not primary motivators.

4. Robustness Over Optimization

Once minimum performance and emissions goals are met, design decisions will favor:

• durability over efficiency gains
• forgiveness over precision
• simplicity over feature expansion

Design changes that improve laboratory performance but reduce robustness, tolerance to imperfect use, or likelihood of habitual adoption are rejected.

5. Governing Design Hierarchy (NEW — LOCKED)

• Design governs performance and reliable use.
• Material selection governs generational durability.
• Both are subordinate to the cultural and practical realities of daily cooking.
• This hierarchy governs all engineering, cost, and deployment decisions.

6. Phase Gates Have Veto Power

Progress is governed by phase gates, not timelines.

Any gate may pause, modify, or terminate a development path. Momentum is never a justification to proceed.

7. Community Partnership Is Core Infrastructure

Communities are partners, not recipients.

Voluntary use is the only acceptable measure of success. Solutions must preserve dignity, agency, and local ownership.

8. One Framework, Many Partners

As the initiative scales, multiple mission and NGO partners may participate. All partners operate within a shared engagement framework informed by long-standing in-country experience.

Local adaptation is encouraged. Philosophical divergence is not.

Summary Principle

Technical performance enables impact.
Trusted partnership sustains it.

How to Use This Doctrine

• Resolve internal design or cost disputes
• Guide partner onboarding and expectations
• Anchor decisions when scale pressure increases

As firebox geometry evolved toward a taller, slender configuration with staged combustion air, combustion stability and completeness improved markedly. This improvement resulted in substantially higher and more sustained internal operating temperatures.

Observation:
Elevated temperatures exposed immediate limitations in conventional carbon steel construction, including accelerated oxidation, loss of strength at temperature, and unacceptable long-term creep risk. These effects were incompatible with the initiative’s governing priority of extreme durability and unattended, long-term use.

At the same time, increased surface temperatures raised safety concerns related to user contact and environmental exposure, particularly under real-world operating conditions.

Discovery:
Material selection emerged as a first-order design variable rather than a secondary cost decision. Light-gauge stainless steel, specifically Type 304, provided a practical balance of:

• high-temperature oxidation resistance
• acceptable creep performance at anticipated operating temperatures
• manufacturability using light plate gauges
• suitability for long service life under repeated thermal cycling

Additionally, it became evident that full thermal protection of external contact surfaces was required, not only as a safety measure but as a means of preserving internal thermal energy.

Decision:
Transition primary structural and hot-zone components from carbon steel to light-gauge Type 304 stainless steel to meet durability and generational life objectives.

Incorporate a continuous insulation jacket covering all external contact areas as a mandatory design feature, addressing:

• user safety
• thermal containment
• reduction of parasitic heat loss

At this stage, the system geometry remained cylindrical, with a preliminary envelope of approximately 228 mm diameter × 438 mm height, providing a manufacturable baseline for continued development.

Implication:
This decision is formally linked:

• combustion performance → material limits
• material limits → thermal protection requirements
• safety requirements → efficiency improvement

Durability, safety, and efficiency were no longer treated as competing objectives but as mutually reinforcing outcomes of correct material and thermal system design.

Subsequent iterations would refine geometry and insulation strategy but would not revisit the requirement for high-temperature-capable materials and full external thermal protection.

Context:
With the RHT-C01 architecture established around a slender firebox, staged combustion air, deliberate radiant heat transfer, and durable materials, performance improvements initially appeared to follow from geometry alone. However, repeat testing revealed that geometry defined potential, not consistency.

Observation:
Performance varied significantly depending on how fuel, combustion gases, and exhaust gases were guided within the firebox. Even with adequate size, height, and heat release, uncontrolled or asymmetric internal flow resulted in:

• uneven combustion intensity
• localized quenching or premature bypass of radiant surfaces
• inconsistent heat delivery to the cooking interface

These effects occurred despite otherwise sound combustion and material choices.

Discovery:
Reliable, high-performance operation required centered and controlled axial flow through the firebox. Sustained performance depended on maintaining alignment between:

• fuel introduction
• combustion gas development
• exhaust gas removal

Fuel, combustion gases, and exhaust gases need to remain coaxial and progressively engaged with the active thermal zones of the stove. Flow behavior could not be left to firebox shape alone; it required deliberate management.

Decision:
Internal flow control was elevated to a first-order design requirement, equal in importance to firebox geometry and air staging.

Subsequent development focused on ensuring that:

• fuel remained centered as it entered the combustion core
• combustion gases developed symmetrically along the firebox height
• exhaust gases were selectively harvested only after contributing useful heat

This principle later guided refinement of the fire grate, heat absorbing top plate, and exhaust flow management features.

Implication:
The RHT-C01’s performance advantage is not solely a function of heat generation, but of keeping generated heat productively engaged with the system. Centered, controlled flow proved essential to repeatable performance, robustness under imperfect use, and reduced fuel consumption.

Context:
Parallel analysis evaluated the RHT-C01 using both wood and air-dried dung as primary fuels to assess real-world performance limits across commonly available biomass options.

Observation:
When air-dried dung was used as a primary fuel, performance was consistently constrained by high retained moisture content (20-30%). Observed effects included:

• delayed ignition
• unstable combustion
• reduced effective heat release
• diminished radiant heat availability

These limitations were observed independent of firebox geometry, air staging, or flow control.

Discovery:
High fuel moisture imposes a fundamental thermodynamic penalty: a substantial portion of available energy is consumed evaporating water before useful heat can be delivered to the cooking task.

As a result, performance comparable to wood-fueled operation cannot be achieved with air-dried dung alone in any ICS architecture, including the RHT-C01.

Achieving parity requires significant moisture reduction prior to combustion, rather than further optimization of combustion or heat transfer within the stove.

Decision:
Fuel moisture was explicitly recognized as a system boundary condition, not a tuning parameter. High-performance operation with dung would require upstream fuel conditioning rather than additional stove-level complexity.

This recognition drove parallel development efforts focused on passive heat energy drying and conditioning approaches, rather than attempting to force performance gains within the firebox.

Implication:
The RHT-C01 was validated as a high-performance cooking platform for both wood and dung provided fuel moisture is reduced ~75%. Performance limitations observed with air-dried dung were identified as fuel-related constraints, not deficiencies of the stove architecture.

“Narrative on Fuel Categories Challenges and ICS Strategies” (White Paper, Oct 2025)

Context:
Performance validation, fabrication development, and preliminary testing confirmed that the RHT-C01 cooking platform is capable of delivering sufficient cooking capability and reduced fuel consumption when operated with appropriately conditioned biomass fuels.

Parallel evaluation using air-dried dung as a primary fuel reaffirmed a persistent performance limitation driven by retained fuel moisture rather than stove architecture.

Observation:
Dung fuel dried under typical field conditions retains moisture levels that impose a fundamental performance penalty. A substantial portion of available energy is consumed evaporating water prior to combustion, limiting effective heat delivery regardless of combustion efficiency, flow control, or heat-transfer optimization.

This limitation is not unique to the RHT-C01 and applies broadly to all ICS devices operating on high-moisture biofuels.

Recognition:
Achieving cooking performance with dung comparable to that obtained with wood requires meaningful moisture reduction prior to combustion. Further optimization within the firebox alone cannot overcome this constraint.

As a result, fuel preparation—not combustion refinement—emerged as the governing unresolved variable for dung-fueled operation.

Decision:
Rather than compromising stove performance expectations or imposing behavioral burdens on users, the initiative identified and initiated development of a passive heat fuel conditioning oven integrated with the cooking platform.

The benefits of this subsystem include:

• utilize low-grade, otherwise rejected heat (requires no additional fuel to power)
• reduce dung fuel moisture content prior
• to combustion
• operate passively without user intervention or external energy input

This approach preserves the core RHT-C01 architecture while addressing fuel moisture as an upstream conditioning problem rather than a stove-level deficiency.

Implication:
The development of this passive fuel conditioning device as a required system auxiliary defines the next phase of development. Design, validation, and field testing of this capability will proceed independently and will be documented when substantive progress or directional decisions are reached.

Related Reading: —"Biomass Fuel Conditioning -Eliminating the Moisture Penalty to Restore Usable Fuel Energy” White Paper Oct 30, 2025

As the RHT-C01 design matured and external collaboration with 3D drafting and testing organizations became necessary, core functional elements were formally documented and protected through provisional patent filings. This step allowed the project to proceed openly with modeling, fabrication, and testing while preserving the integrity of the platform prior to validation.

Recent United States Patent and Trade Office (USPTO) Filings

• Fuel-Positioning and Delivery System with Integrated Fuel-Centering Grate - Stabilizes combustion core and consistent fuel feed rate.
• Fuel Tube Inlet and Oxygen Limiting Cap - Prevents combustion in fuel tube and promotes pre-combustion fuel conditioning
• Passive Air Preheat Insulation Jacket - Preheats multi-level combustion air
• Staged Combustion Air Inlet Geometry - Improves mixing, residence time, and emissions.
• Top Plate Radiation Plate with Swirl Fins - Drives multi-pass flow and efficiency
• Selective Harvest Stack Cowl -Enforces multi-pass flow and efficiency.
• Passive Fuel Conditioning Oven -Reduced dung moisture increasing cook energy and stability

In reflecting on the recent framing that links emissions reduction, efficiency, and sufficiency, I wanted to understand how—if at all—we originally arrived at that association. What became clear is that while we did not initially articulate the problem in terms of “sufficiency,” we nonetheless embedded it into the design from the beginning.

From the outset, we understood what was required to achieve low emissions. High combustion temperature, adequate residence time, and controlled mixing are well established in combustion science and generally recognized by some across the clean cooking sector. Improving fuel efficiency—using less fuel to accomplish a given task—was also an explicit objective.

Where our path diverged, largely without our recognition at the time, was in how we defined the baseline.

Rather than benchmarking emissions and fuel reduction against abstract laboratory conditions, we benchmarked against real open-fire cooking as it actually occurs: 9–10 kg of wood per day, large pots, long cooking cycles, and meals completed within customary timeframes. If emissions reduction was to be meaningful, it had to be measured against that reality. And if fuel reduction was to be credible, it could not come at the expense of cooking capability.

In practical terms, this meant that from very early in the design process we treated the cooking energy delivered by open-fire cooking as a minimum baseline, not a target. The stove was expected to deliver at least the same useful cooking energy while completing meals, however, in shorter, more practical timeframes. We did not describe this requirement as “sufficiency” at the time. We simply assumed that a viable replacement must both meet the energy demands of traditional cooking and reduce the time and effort required to achieve them.

As we later worked to “true up” fuel-reduction claims—ensuring that reduced fuel use did not come at the expense of longer cooking times or diminished capability—we reinforced this direction rather than relaxing it. The design was consistently pushed to maintain the energy delivered by open-fire cooking while improving the speed and practicality of meal preparation.

Only in hindsight does the pattern become clear: by insisting on an honest baseline and resisting efficiency gains achieved through reduced power, sufficiency had been built into the system all along. Clean combustion requirements and real cooking performance were allowed to converge naturally, rather than being traded against one another.

Like many meaningful discoveries, this alignment was not the result of a single insight. It emerged gradually, through a series of practical decisions that simply refused to compromise on what real cooking demands. The later realization—that sufficiency, emissions reduction, and durability are inseparable—did not change the design. It explained it.

(This realization is explored in greater depth in “The Real Reason Improved Cookstove (ICS) Initiatives Fail”- White Paper Dec20, 2025

“Integration: Convergence of Combustion and Fuel Reality”- White Paper Dec 29, 2025

We have reached the point where the RHT-C01 design represents the cooking platform intended, subject to confirming tests. The “processes” that drive the current function and improvements from previous models is currently in testing using Computational Fluid Dynamics Modeling (CFD). Computational Fluid Dynamics is a well-established engineering tool used for decades to predict fluid flow, heat transfer, and combustion behavior in complex systems, including jet engines, power boilers, and industrial furnaces. Its value lies in revealing internal flow and thermal behavior that cannot be directly observed, allowing critical design assumptions to be tested before the significant expense of physical prototyping and performance testing.

Physical performance testing of the RHT-C01 is the next validation step, in which the design is evaluated on an actual stove built to the same configuration intended for deployment. Using established test protocols, this phase measures functional operation, heat delivery, and fuel use under controlled and repeatable conditions. Used in combination with CFD, these tests provide verifiable confirmation of thermal performance and preliminary indications of CO and PM2.5 emissions. Together, these results determine whether the design is ready to advance through this phase gate.

From the outset of this initiative, our objective has been to design and deploy a clean cookstove that prioritizes health outcomes while also delivering meaningful environmental benefits. In many cases, design decisions that reduce environmental impact also improve user health. For example, higher combustion efficiency reduces fuel consumption and correspondingly lowers emissions of carbon monoxide (CO), particulate matter (PM2.5), and other harmful pollutants—directly improving indoor air quality.

There are also areas where health considerations require explicit prioritization. Durability is one such area. A solution that functions for only a few years offers limited health benefit. For this reason, material selection and construction methods were chosen to support a service life measured in decades. The use of corrosion-resistant materials such as T-304 stainless steel, rather than carbon steel, is intended to enable a useful life of 20 years or more under demanding conditions.

As we began planning the transition from limited pilot deployments to broader scale implementation, we evaluated potential long-term funding mechanisms, including voluntary carbon finance. Early assumptions paired estimated fuel reduction from the stove with published voluntary carbon market pricing, forming an initial view of how carbon revenue might support scale-up.

Further investigation revealed an important nuance: carbon reduction does not translate directly into carbon revenue. Eligibility and valuation depend on location-specific baseline assumptions, particularly related to fuel scarcity and alternative fuel access. In practice, carbon credit values can be substantially lower in rural and remote regions—where households have few fuel alternatives—than in more peri-urban settings. In some cases, this difference can reduce potential carbon revenue by 50–75% for otherwise equivalent fuel savings.

This realization does not alter our commitment to deploying a health-focused solution, nor does it invalidate carbon finance as a supporting mechanism. It does, however, require a reassessment of how scaling is funded and paced. Technologies designed to deliver sustained health benefits, high adoption, and long operational life often carry higher upfront costs that are not fully recovered through carbon revenue alone.

We view this as an important learning rather than a barrier. It reinforces the need for funding models that are better aligned with the full set of outcomes—health, environmental impact, adoption, and durability—that determine real-world effectiveness. As we continue refining our approach, we ask for continued prayer and wisdom as we work to align technical performance, impact, and sustainable financing.

Following the observations recorded in our January 16th project log entry regarding health-focused stove design and the structure of clean cooking finance, we are preparing a technical white paper that examines the issue in more depth.

The paper explores how prevailing carbon valuation mechanisms interact with adoption persistence, emissions performance, and device durability, and why integrated, health-first solutions may be structurally under-incentivized despite delivering greater real-world impact.

Our intent is not to critique carbon finance, but to contribute constructively to ongoing discussions among practitioners, buyers, and standards bodies regarding outcome alignment. We look forward to sharing the paper and engaging with others to improve both integrity and impact in the clean cooking sector.

White Paper: Integrating Clean Cooking Funding with Health Benefits, User Adoption, and Lasting Results

Preliminary review of the CFD modeling performed by FMCT Consulting revealed very optimistic results and the following summary.

“This computational fluid dynamics (CFD) study validates the performance of the RHT-C01 high-efficiency solid-fuel cookstove, a revolutionary biomass combustion system designed to achieve ultra-low emissions and exceptional thermal efficiency through guided two-pass combustion flow.”

There are a few corrections and adjustments that will be made to the input into the CFD model, and a final run will be conducted, which should provide more quantifiable data confirming performance.

We thank Rajat Kapoor CEO FMCT Consulting for providing the CFD analysis and report. that provides data that would otherwise be difficult to confirm without the significant time and cost of build-test-modify and retest.

We continue to make progress in finalizing the detailed 3D construction model of the stove and the 2D Fabrication drawings required to build the test units.

“The RHT-C01 Biomass Cooking System”- White Paper February 6, 2026

The final fully tested and validated RHT-C01 Clean Cookstove for test deployment, is not the product of a single insight or optimization, but of repeated confrontation with physical constraints, operational realities, and patterns of failure that have limited earlier efforts. Each redirection recorded in this log was driven by evidence, not preference.

model for deployment reflects the hard lessons learned—both from our own direct experience and from the documented outcomes of prior improved cookstove initiatives.

Today we were performing some final volume calculations on wood and dung to confirm the capacity of the fire grate to hold ash. We were using 1.5kg (3.3lb.) as the baseline for each of the two daily burns. Although the design load is 1.0kg (2.2 lbs.) +/- 20% (1.0-1.5kg) we choose to use the higher fueling. Calculations reveal that dung from the 1.5kg burn produces ~7 x more ash than the same 1.5kg burn with wood. With dung, the fire grate will hold two burns (~ 88% capacity) plus adequate safety margin. A comparable burn with wood only deposits ~12.5% of the fire grates daily capacity. Therefore, we recommend to clean out the fire grate (about 1-2 minute process) after each burn using dung and daily using wood.

Coming soon

We have been working with a talented AutoCAD graphics engineer to get the necessary drawings to first develop the actual gas model for the Computational Fluid Dynamic Model built for determining flow and performance.

Real-world deployment will continue to expose limits, reveal opportunities for refinement, and deepen understanding. That is expected. The pursuit of learning and continuous improvement does not end with test deployment; it continues through use.

What has changed from the inception of this initiative is not the belief that improvement is possible, but the confidence that the foundation is now tested and grounded in reality rather than assumption.