Radical MSR Stove Gives Pressure Without Pumping

Amazing what you find on the OUTDOORSmagic.com forum, like the discreetly tucked-away news that MSR is working on a radical new lightweight camping stove which will weigh in at around 100 grammes and burn petrol, but without the need for pressurisation, so no pumping required.

The new stove reportedly uses a radical new technology being developed by a small American start-up called Vapore. The process allows the conversion of unpressurised liquid fuel into pressurised vapour using only heat rather than pressure pumps as with current stoves.

The process uses something called a 'capillary force vaporizer', apparently a small - from 5mm to 19mm in diameter - ceramic cylinder that sucks in fluid using a highly porous material. Once heat is applied to the top-surface of the cylinder, the heat vaporises the liquid, which escapes as a stream of pressurised steam through the top using capillary pressure.

The MSR stove using the technology is reportedly due to be released this month and is designed to use white gas. Because the fuel tank no longer needs to be pressurised, it can be made of lightweight plastic and the lack of a pump mechanism also saves weight.

It doesn't stop there though. The new stove should be very simple to use with no pumping, priming or maintenance required, plus a specially designed heat exchanger interface between the stove burner and pot claims to up the overall efficiency of the stove.

In an article on the Wired web site, Jeff Bowman, MSR's vice president is quoted as saying: "It's like the iMac, we envision a stove that will look different from everything out there."

Interesting stuff. More information and stove piccies from www.memagazine.org's article. See also www.vapore.com for more detailed information on the technology including a video of it in action,.

Big thanks to Stove Man for breaking the story on the forum.