Primus Stove - How IT Works

How It Works

To light the stove, the burner assembly is pre-heated with a small amount of alcohol burned in a circular “spirit cup” just below the burner. Once heated, the tank is pressurized by means of a small hand pump integrated into the tank, which forces the kerosene from the tank up through the rising tube (A) through the ascending pipe (B) to the pre-heated burner head (C), where the fuel is heated and vapourized. The kerosene vapour is then forced under pressure through the descending tube (D) to the vapour nozzle (E). The vapourized kerosene gas is sprayed through a jet in the middle of the burner, where it mixes with air and burns in a sootless, blue flame. Additional pumping increases the pressure in the tank and makes the flame larger; turning a small “air screw” (usually located in the filler cap) will release pressure from the tank and make the flame smaller.

Prior to the introduction of the Primus, kerosene stoves were constructed in the same manner as oil lamps, which use a wick to draw fuel from the tank to the burner and which produce a great deal of soot due to incomplete combustion. The Primus stove’s design, which uses pressure and heat to vapourize the kerosene before ignition, results in a hotter, more efficient stove that does not soot. Because it did not use a wick and did not produce soot, the Primus stove was advertised as the first “sootless” and “wickless” stove.