[Stoves] Wood fired, two-stage gasification employed

[Kevin]

Dear Crispin
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Crispin Pemberton-Pigott 
  To: Stoves 
  Sent: Friday, August 05, 2011 11:15 AM
  Subject: Re: [Stoves] Wood fired, two-stage gasification employed


  Dear Kevin

   

  Picking up on one point for your response:

   

  > Accordingly, I would think that unless there is a specific Standard that 

  specifies the O2 level at which the CO is measured, two different stoves or 

  furnaces reporting the same CO levels could have very different O2 and Smoke 

  Spot Readings.

   

  There is a difference in understanding here. It is not that the dilution level is set and then measurements taken, it is just a reporting method so that measurements taken with different levels of dilution can be fairly judged.



  # I do get your point here. The problem is that devious and misleading Stove Producers can quote results for their stove that give very low apparent CO levels, by simply increasing the dilution rate. ("The solution to pollution is dilution.") Unless teh degree of dlution is specified, the stated results can be more or less meaningless.

   

  If you recall there was a conversation some time ago here, I think it was about the time you joined the stove list, about measuring CO using a CO meter and it was found by some that they have 'reduced CO'. In fact the excess air might have been increased, not the CO reduced. As the reporting method was 'CO in ppm' it told us nothing about the actual CO being produced. Things have come a long way since then in stove testing in most quarters.



  # I don't recall teh specific discussion, but I get the point. Also, while stove testing capabilities have come a long way, those capabilities are not necessarily used properly, or teh results are not necessarily presented properly, to show the true and real capabilities of a specific stove. Recall your discussions about the general lack of meaning of some generally accepted stove testing methods.



  A couple of years ago I was asked to test a new 'coal briquette' which claimed to have not only 'reduced CO' but also 'reduced CO2'. That I just had to see! So it turns out they had taken the product to an air quality testing lab and the guy testing it measured the absolute concentrations of CO and CO2 in the air above the product when it was burning, as well as a small pile of coal. The briquette had higher excess air so he reported that it had 'significantly lower CO2 output'. As some people now believe that CO2 is a 'pollutant' along with the well-known CO, they were claiming a dramatic reduction because their coal didn't produce much CO2. The mind boggles. 



  # A lot of that sort of thing goes on.

   

  The method you describe to get the minimum smoke from an oil burner is a test of the burner, not the fuel, as you can imagine. The idea is sound. I wonder if the nanoparticle count can somehow be assessed.



  # Yes... the fuel is constant, and only burner adjustment changes. The "Smoke Spot Test", along with stack temperature, and an Orsat Analysis of the flue gas can tell the furnace/stove efficiency. However, I do not think this system would be good for nanoparticle measurement, in that tehre is nothing in that system that can capture and measure nanoparticles.



  Would your fundamental concern be addressed if teh results were presented as:

  "Grams of CO, and grams of Particulate Matter, per kG of fuel burned?" (or perhaps per MJ or BTU of energy content of teh fuel? 

   

  Great paper from Philip Hopke from Clarkson Univ. Some of you will remember him from the Bangkok roadmap conference: 

  http://www.nyserda.org/publications/10_15_eval_energy_emissions_performance.pdf

   

  The future is small, very small!



  # Very interesting Paper! Thanks



  Kevin

   

  Regards

  Crispin

   



------------------------------------------------------------------------------


  _______________________________________________
  Stoves mailing list

  to Send a Message to the list, use the email address
  stoves at lists.bioenergylists.org

  to UNSUBSCRIBE or Change your List Settings use the web page
  http://lists.bioenergylists.org/mailman/listinfo/stoves_lists.bioenergylists.org

  for more Biomass Cooking Stoves,  News and Information see our web site:
  http://www.bioenergylists.org/




------------------------------------------------------------------------------


  No virus found in this message.
  Checked by AVG - www.avg.com
  Version: 10.0.1391 / Virus Database: 1518/3812 - Release Date: 08/05/11
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.bioenergylists.org/pipermail/stoves_lists.bioenergylists.org/attachments/20110805/d01053fa/attachment.html>