In our stove for the Maasai, we insulate and line our steel "firebox", (the part of the stove that guarantees efficiency by circulating burning gases near and under the pot on their way to the chimney) with bricks made by local brick makers. They are not special fire bricks. But we fix them with generous amounts of a fire resistant mortar, the recipe for which we got from the guy who make things like pizza ovens for Tanzanian tourist hotels. We have done "autopsies" of stoves we removed to study after two years of use, and we are finding the brick/mortar has held up very well. So I think the right mortar used generously might be more important than the quality of the bricks.
anyone wanting to discuss mortar, get in touch. [email protected] and where the five bricks are inside the firebox can be seen on the stove page of www.maasaistovessolar.org bob lange
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