[Stoves] Combustion gas analysers

Frank Shields frank at compostlab.com
Thu Sep 20 15:02:38 CDT 2012


Dear Crispin,

 

We have a new FTIR sitting most of the time because I am not really sure how
it can help with what I do. We got it for determining what a material is
when doing biodegradable products test.

What do they plan to use it for? 

 

I have turned biomass into char at different temperatures and looked at the
range using FTIR and do notice some differences. Not very useful as the
changes in patterns 'move' as the char is heated to different temps going
from biomass to torrefied wood to char. Nothing quantitative and barely
qualitative. 

 

Regards

 

Frank

 

 

From: stoves-bounces at lists.bioenergylists.org
[mailto:stoves-bounces at lists.bioenergylists.org] On Behalf Of Crispin
Pemberton-Pigott
Sent: Thursday, September 20, 2012 12:16 PM
To: 'Discussion of biomass cooking stoves'
Subject: Re: [Stoves] Combustion gas analysers

 

Dear Frank

 

I spend (too much) time talking to people selling instruments so if you have
something in particular let me bounce it off some suppliers.  A couple of
students at The Univ of Waterloo just got and are installing an FTIR machine
and already have a huge GC. It is connected to a GEC gasifier then what
amounts to a large charcoal filter. They are going to attempt to get almost
real-time gas analysis and then the evolution of flames when flame-catalysts
are injected into it (natural gas in that case).

 

The have a most interesting gas sampling probe made from a quartz tube with
a 0.2 mm diameter hole in it, with the sample line maintained at -0.7 bars.
Pulling in the gas in this manner pretty much stops all gas reactions that
would otherwise continue in the sample tube. I have long suspected this is
happening in the diluter at the lab because the CO is too low, consistently.
I think at least some of it is burning to CO2. 

 

In other words the CO/CO2 ratio in the stack is not as good as it is in the
diluter. Because the main purpose of the diluter is to get particles, there
is not much we can do except use nitrogen instead of air as a dilutant but
that is impossibly expensive.

 

They can sample different points in the flame and using the GC can determine
how the combustion is progressing.

 

Regards

Crispin

 

 

 

Thanks for this doc. Real useful.

 

I find it interesting that many analyzers leave out one measurement so to
make it easy to always add up to 100%.  CO2 is really easy to measure. We
are looking for a new CO2 analyzer so I appreciate all the recent info from
Crispin and Marc.

 

Thanks

 

Frank 

 

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