[Stoves] The University of Adelaide dung-burning TLUD project

[Crispin Pemberton-Pigott]

Dear Josh

 

I am about to embark on a multi-year project that will include dung and
other fuels. I have to be patient at the moment because it takes time to get
things organised, but it will be an important effort. 

 

So far it seems that TLUD and BLDD (which are pretty much identical but
inverted) are 'tuneable' for just about any fuel. 

 

The trickier bit is to make charcoal, or combustible gas at the same time as
burning either of them. It is much easier to burn the entire fuel at once
than to do what amounts to using the fire to create a combustible fuel
(charcoal or gas).

 

As we have had so much success with the crossdraft combustor, that will
remain the main focus at the moment, initially. There is a strong likelihood
that it will work well with biomass pellets, probably wood to start with and
Switchgrass to follow.

 

Space heating and hot water heating for space heating will be a high
priority. Nearly no work is being done on this for domestic use at the
moment which is a bit worrying as the demand is increasing all the time. 

 

Keepin' it dry

Crispin

 

 

+++++++

 

Dear Crispin and fellow stovers,

 

I am interested in finding out more about your experiences with dung burning
in TLUD cook stoves. A team of mechanical engineering undergraduates from
The University of Adelaide are optimising TLUD cook stoves for use in the
southern Terai region of Nepal, where they use buffalo dung as the primary
fuel.  Reading about Crispin's own work with goat dung and his plans for a
clean burning stove for Southern Asia has me thinking there may be some
useful advice out there regarding fuel preparation, optimal primary and
secondary air flow, fuel chamber dimensions etc.

 

Our own testing of cow dung in a Servals group Champion TLUD (the one
commercially produced in India) successfully boiled 4 litres of water in 30
mins (without a pot skirt) however 3 fuel canisters where used with each
lasting only 12 minutes. From discussions with Dr Paul Anderson and Dr Hugh
McLaughlin we know how important it is to increase the fuel density to
improve the stove performance. We will test different fuel preparation
techniques in the coming months however there may be many stovers out there
who have invaluable information regarding dung burning in TLUDs which may
help narrow our focus. 

 

The bioenergylists.org website has been a great help so far in our project,
and we would most appreciative of any other documents, links or general
information which fellow stovers may be willing to share.

 

Kind regards,

 

Josh Wilkey

-- 

 

Josh Wilkey

 

Undergraduate Honours Student
Bachelor of Engineering (Mechanical) with Bachelor of Economics

School of Mechanical Engineering
The University of Adelaide
SA 5005 Australia

Mobile: +61 437 716 131
e-mail: josh.wilkey at student.adelaide.edu.au

 

 

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