A revolutionary new kind of furnace for burning all kinds of waste material from manure to green wood is ready for market after years of research.

"It works just like an old forge," John Kimberlin says, explaining that the furnace burns at up to 1,300 degrees, which makes combustion extremely clean with virtually no smoke or odor.

Manufactured by Nature's Furnace, Inc., Waukee, Iowa, the new company has attracted interest from large farms, race tracks, land fills, and others -- anywhere there are large piles of waste.

"This is a commercial size, computer-controlled unit," Kimberlin says. It is not geared to residential use, at least at this point. But in the future, the "biomass reactor" may provide not only heat but also cooling and electricity for consumers.

The furnace's ability to burn high moisture biomass -- up to 75 percent -- and not malfunction from contaminants such as rocks and dirt -- also sets it apart from other biomass burners.

To design the furnace, Kimberlin and a group of engineers focused on heating from the center of the biomass and came up with a simple system with only 11 moving parts. No auxiliary fossil fuels are used to assist combustion. He applied for and received a 20-year patent on the process.

Biomass material is fed from a hopper into the furnace with augers and vibrators. To fire it initially, a series of strip heaters like burners on a stove are turned on. Once ignited, the burner goes into automatic mode, with the burn controlled and fed by air injected into the smoldering fire.

A heat exchanger is buried inside the combustor. Either air or fluid can be used. Because the exchanger is buried in the combustor, the outside of the furnace stays cool. Moist material is dried by the head of combustion as it works its way to the center of the furnace.

"Once I contained the mass and ignited it from the inside, I was able to see a combustion zone develop, like a cylinder of tornadic fire," Kimberlin explains. "Heat outputs are incredible. Particle size and moisture variations have very little effect. As the fuel was radiating its own heat inwardly, it was also drying itself.

"What makes it unique is that it's very small and very simple," Kimberlin says. The furnace can be placed where the waste is, instead of moving the waste to it. On his own farm, Kimberlin used waste from tree trimming businesses when he didn't have manure.

The furnace burns clean, and leftover ash is spread on the fields. It puts out 175,000 to 400,000 btu's, depending on the installation.

Going through the process, Kimberlin gathered a group of inventors to create Nature's Furnace. And he has surrounded himself with engineers to refine his creation, and meet EPA and government standards. They are working with micro thermal technology to create electricity. He established export markets and delivered furnaces to be used in poultry, equine and even a mushroom business.

It's taken years to develop Nature's Furnace, but with interest in green energy, the timing is right. Kimberlin likes to call biomass "Mother Nature's battery," and his furnace takes advantage of it in a very simple way.

About 3 percent of the weight of material is augered out as ash which can be spread on fields. Rocks and other non-flammable contaminants are also augered out.

Units have already been sold in Europe and are now ready for sale in North America.