[Stoves] Jatropha and its future

[Crispin Pemberton-Pigott]

Dear Lloyd

 

That is great news. If you are passing through Waterloo please stop in so we
can do a couple of emission tests.

 

I was working on the weekend to burn one of the worst fuels I have seen so
far - a 100mm diameter high density sawdust log with no hole in the centre.
Eventually I got it working well and boiled 5.2 litres in 16 minutes. I used
a 130mm long piece standing up on end in a Vesto. I also tried drilling a 1
inch hole through the centre but to burn that it needs to be in 'gasifier
mode'. That means starting with a higher primary air flow then closing it.
Not as convenient but possible.

 

Regards

Crispin

 

From: stoves-bounces at lists.bioenergylists.org
[mailto:stoves-bounces at lists.bioenergylists.org] On Behalf Of Lloyd Helferty
Sent: 16 August 2011 14:31
To: Discussion of biomass cooking stoves
Subject: Re: [Stoves] Jatropha and its future

 

Christina (And Jan),

  Just to let you (and everyone) know, I was able to successfully use/burn
whole Jatropha nuts in a natural draft Top-Lit- UpDraft (TLUD) stove (made
out of tin cans) at the recent CHAB Camp hosted by the Biomass Energy
Foundation in Belchertown, MA.  I did it outdoors on a windy day.
  While I did not intentionally inhale the smoke, I do not believe that the
smoke of the J-nuts was any more toxic than other types of smoke.  Hugh
McLaughlin actually explained that the smoke from a Jatropha fire was likely
just as toxic as from any other fire -- smoke of any kind tends to be
something one should not breathe [hence the warning on cigarette boxes].
 My little natural draft TLUD produced very little smoke once the secondary
airflow was adjusted properly and pyrolyzing the Jatropha nuts, although
when it was left unattended it did start smoking a little bit at the end of
the burn as the stove attempted to burn through the resulting biochar.
(Although if this were running indoors, I would probably be more worried
about the CO being produced than any toxicity that might arise from the
J-nuts.)



  Lloyd Helferty, Engineering Technologist
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