[Stoves] High mass space heating options Re: Rocket Stove for the PLACE

Fireside Hearth firesidehearthvashon at hotmail.com
Mon Oct 10 12:57:55 CDT 2011


Hello all,

         It is in my limited understanding that "bio char" gives a home to microbial organisms which in turn bring much needed "natural fertilizers" to ones garden, is this true? From the reading I have done I can not think of any way of creating the char without sustaining other losses, many of which can be seen in pictures of destructive practices, slash burns, air pollution, and the ridiculous end cost of the process on our environment. 
         From the text below I have the gut response of the following analogy. The race car driver and the Granny. Mario Andretti rapidly goes from the gas pedal to the brake pedal and back to get every ounce of performance he can from his machine.....screw economy. The Granny acts as if there is an egg shell between her foot and the pedal which she wants to keep safe at all cost. Who gets the best fuel economy.......surely not Mario. In this thinking I bring up the "Russian fireplace", The oldest and most widely used High Mass heater I have known in my 26 years. They are typically loaded up with 80 lbs of fuel and burned off one or two times per day. Thats up to 160 pounds every 24 hours, and no char is left. I believe that the common EPA certified wood stove can provide just as much "useable" heat to ones home with allot less fuel, and no char is left. 
        So, I am asking out loud.......are we better off selecting the heat source that gets more for our waning resources, and maybe asking if there is another medium for giving a home to these microbial critters other than just the "char". What is it about the char that is beneficial? Does the ash from the fire also allow for the "housing" process?  Can we learn to utilize this process in a way that does not cost mother earth an arm and a leg? If this process really works as well as proponents claim, then there must also be an ecologically intelligent way to create a medium for housing these life giving microbes.

                Comments?

                  Roger.

From: chinckley at efwinslow.com
To: rongretlarson at comcast.net; stoves at lists.bioenergylists.org; english at kingston.net
Date: Mon, 10 Oct 2011 10:39:36 -0400
CC: jotemahern at gmail.com
Subject: Re: [Stoves] High mass space heating options Re: Rocket Stove for	the PLACE











That is precisely the reason I am thinking about 
combining these two concepts; biomass/char and mass absorption and transmission. 
I want to produce char as a co-product of the heating cycle, cooking will also 
be a secondary consideration.
My desire is to find a design that will benefit 
and further enhance each of these concepts. I am not particularly 
enamored with the idea of continuous "fire" tending, I do like the notion 
of building one or two very hot, short duration fires and then walking away to 
have the mass regulate the heating needs of the space.
 
As I said above creating biochar in this 
process is equally important to my purposes. I really hate the idea and throwing 
off the "waste" heat from the char production, as I also do not like the 
idea of burning up the char in a continuously fed heating appliance. It seems to 
me that it may be possible to doubly enhance the efficiencies of each of the 
these two processes by combining them.
 
Does this seem desirable to any others 
here?
 
Chas, pronounced Chaz 
 
If this is going to become a busy discussion I will 
need to set up a different email acct for it, this is my studio email and it 
gets enough activity on it's own. Is this a discussion that should be moved to a 
list server?

  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: 
  rongretlarson at comcast.net 
  To: Discussion of biomass cooking 
  stoves ; Alex English 
  Cc: chinckley at efwinslow.com ; Jote Mahern 
  
  Sent: Sunday, October 09, 2011 11:29 
  PM
  Subject: Re: [Stoves] High mass space 
  heating options Re: Rocket Stove for the PLACE
  

  Alex:  I 
  believe the most appropriate answer to your final question below ("What do 
  you see as the advantages of combining these two approaches?") is one you 
  gave yourself:  ("...a desire for 
  char ...").

   The beauty of high mass heaters is that 
  they mesh well with a batch process - the main (only?) drawback of char-making 
  stoves.

Ron



  
  From: "Alex English" <english at kingston.net>
To: 
  "Discussion of biomass cooking stoves" <stoves at lists.bioenergylists.org>
Cc: 
  chinckley at efwinslow.com, 
  "Jote Mahern" <jotemahern at gmail.com>
Sent: 
  Saturday, October 8, 2011 8:49:16 PM
Subject: Re: [Stoves] High 
  mass space heating options Re: Rocket Stove for the PLACE

Paul,
The 
  TLUD configuration has it's advantages and disadvantages, like any 
system. 
  One advantage is it's steady state energy release. High mass 
heaters 
  strive for a similar result. It seems a bit redundant to pair 
the two. 
  Perhaps it depends on other considerations like a desire for 
char or an 
  available particulate fuel supply.

There are some folks doing fine work 
  at the Masonry Heater Association.
http://mha-net.org/
They have done a 
  lot on emissions, efficiency and durability.
They have looked into Down 
  feed rocket configurations.
I'm not sure if they have quantified losses 
  between firings, or seasonal 
efficiency.

Its a simple concept with 
  lots of technical details.

What do you see as the advantages of 
  combining these two approaches?

Alex



On 10/7/2011 10:02 
  AM, Paul S. Anderson wrote:
> Dear Jote and all,
>
> Your 
  problem (opportunity) is about space heating. And you seem to want
> 
  biomass rather than fossil or other heat sources. So you should 
  consider
> all heat-transfer options with biomass, not just latch onto 
  Rocket or
> some other technology that makes heat.
>
> For 
  the climate of the Los Angeles area, why not consider a high-mass
> 
  stove? It gets hot and then radiates heat for a long time.
>
> A 
  new friend of mine in Massachusetts, Chas (prononced as in Jazz)
> 
  Hinckley has a design for a high mass heater and we are discussing a
> 
  moderately large TLUD combustor to provide the heat.
>
> We are 
  looking for other people who might be specifically interested in
> this 
  high mass heating option with a TLUD heat source.
>
> If anyone is 
  interested, please get in touch with me and Chas to have
> some off-list 
  discussions. (Chas is not subscribed to the Stoves Listserv.)
>
> 
  Yes, you can put a Rocket burner into a high mass device, but I do not
> 
  deal with that.
>
> Paul S. Anderson, PhD
> Known to some 
  as: Dr. TLUD Doc Professor
> Phone (USA): 309-452-7072 SKYPE: paultlud 
  Email: psanders at ilstu.edu
> 
  www.gtz.de/de/dokumente/giz2011-en-micro-gasification.pdf (Best 
  ref.)
>
>
> Quoting Jote Mahern 
  <jotemahern at gmail.com>:
>
>> Hello 
  All,
>>
>> My name is Jote and I am looking for some 
  guidance on the subject of
>> building a rocket stove to heat an 
  industrial space near 64th and San
>> Pablo.
>> This space 
  is home to the PLACE for sustainable living (People Linking
>> 
  Art
>> Community and Ecology). We are a nonprofit working as a 
  community
>> resiliency laboratory and business incubator. We opened 
  in May. It is
>> starting to get pretty cool inside. Any help/advice 
  is appreciated. I am
>> heading up the project and have experience 
  with cob and am excited to
>> put it
>> to good 
  use.
>>
>> I am hoping to locate plans and someone who is 
  willing to go over them
>> with
>> me.
>> If anyone 
  is interested in joining the work party for the build out
>> that 
  is
>> definitely welcome as well.
>>
>> Hope to 
  hear from you soon!
>>
>
>
>
> 
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