# burning iron oxide **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 5, 2007, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/burning-iron-oxide/421639 "2007-10-05T14:45:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Great\_Dave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/46a35a/32.png) [@Great\_Dave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Great_Dave)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2007, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/burning-iron-oxide/421639/1 "2007-10-05T14:45:17Z")
I use a turkey fryer stove to brew beer. It’s a lot faster to get the 3 gallons of water boiling than my regular stove. However, since I have left it outside, it has gotten awfully rusty. Now, it doesn’t fire as well, the flame being orange and not as strong- instead of its previous jet-like blue flame. And the pot is coated with black soot that’s a pain to deal with. Is there any way to deal with this, or should I just put up with it (or more likely, get a new stove)? And bonus question- how big of a parabolic solar collector would I need to get 3 gallons of water to boil? ---
**Author:** ![Szlater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/90ced4/32.png) [@Szlater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Szlater)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2007, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/burning-iron-oxide/421639/2 "2007-10-05T14:50:21Z")
[QUOTE=Great Dave] Now, it doesn’t fire as well, the flame being orange and not as strong- instead of its previous jet-like blue flame. [/QUOTE] IANA[CORGI](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Council_for_Registered_Gas_Installers)RegisterGasInstaller but it sounds like the air intakes are blocked. Don’t use it indoors because you’re probably producing large volumes of carbon monoxide. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2007, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/burning-iron-oxide/421639/3 "2007-10-05T14:54:38Z")
Just sounds like your stove needs a good cleaning. There are a variety of rust removers or other cleansers on the market. That and a wire brush would probably do wonders. Although I am unsure how much efficiency you have lost. The flame may be changing color some due to impurities burning in there but does that really significantly degrade the stoves performance? As for a parabolic collector that would boil three gallons of water in a reasonable time it’d have to be [pretty big](http://www.canren.gc.ca/tech_appl/index.asp?CaID=5&PgID=282#Parabolic_dish_systems). That one hits 1000 degrees celsius at the receiver. Natural gas burns around 1600[sup]o[/sup]C. There is more to it than that of course but still I think it’d take a largish collector and system to follow the sun. ---
**Author:** ![Great\_Dave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/46a35a/32.png) [@Great\_Dave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Great_Dave)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2007, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/burning-iron-oxide/421639/4 "2007-10-05T17:05:12Z")
[QUOTE=Szlater] IANA[CORGI](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Council_for_Registered_Gas_Installers)RegisterGasInstaller but it sounds like the air intakes are blocked. Don’t use it indoors because you’re probably producing large volumes of carbon monoxide. [/QUOTE] I use it outside, the cause of the problem. It’s got a venturi carburator, which I thought I had cleaned out, but maybe not enough. It does sound a bit choked. [QUOTE=Whack-a-Mole] As for a parabolic collector that would boil three gallons of water in a reasonable time it’d have to be pretty big. That one hits 1000 degrees celsius at the receiver. Natural gas burns around 1600oC. There is more to it than that of course but still I think it’d take a largish collector and system to follow the sun. [/QUOTE] Wouldn’t the solar cooker be hot enough at 300\*F? > [@](#): > > Although I am unsure how much efficiency you have lost. The flame may be changing color some due to impurities burning in there but does that really significantly degrade the stoves performance? It does seem to take a bit longer, but hard to say really. Mostly, I’m trying to get rid of the black soot. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2007, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/burning-iron-oxide/421639/5 "2007-10-05T17:12:49Z")
[QUOTE=Great Dave] Wouldn’t the solar cooker be hot enough at 300\*F? [/QUOTE] Probably (there is heat loss at the same time…you need a net gain…not sure how fast three gallons of water in a big pot loses heat). The question here is time it takes to boil the water. Water will never\* rise above 212[sup]o[/sup]F. After that it becomes steam. More heat just means you get it to boil faster. If you want to wait hours for it to boil (just guessing) then 300[sup]o[/sup] may be just fine. \*EDIT: Nitpickers leave it alone. Let’s just go with standard pressures at sea level on Earth ok? ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2007, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/burning-iron-oxide/421639/6 "2007-10-05T17:58:16Z")
The orange flame and soot make it clear that the flame is short on oxygen. Clean out the burner tube and the air adjustment might need adjusting. You should have only blue flame when the mixture is correct. ---
**Author:** ![Aioua](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/87869e/32.png) [@Aioua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aioua)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2007, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/burning-iron-oxide/421639/7 "2007-10-05T18:14:23Z")
[QUOTE=Great Dave] […] Is there any way to deal with this, or should I just put up with it (or more likely, get a new stove)? And bonus question- how big of a parabolic solar collector would I need to get 3 gallons of water to boil? [/QUOTE] [This one](http://cockeyed.com/incredible/solardish/dish17.shtml) did a quart in 4 minutes. ---
**Author:** ![Carson\_O\_Genic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/cdc98d/32.png) [@Carson\_O\_Genic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Carson_O_Genic)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2007, 5:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/burning-iron-oxide/421639/8 "2007-10-06T05:11:24Z")
Further,the soot on the kettle is an insulator.