[Stoves] Between primary and secondary

[Frank Shields]

Dear Dean and Stove testers,

It seems to me the tests we do are 1) on the biomass going in to the stove
and the 2) gases leaving after the secondary and, perhaps, 3) the
fuel,ash,char remaining. But talk of optimum gas ratios, temperatures and
chemical reactions we write about occur between the primary and secondary
where no sampling and testing occurs. This is the area we need to know more
about. 

So back to the pipe test again! : )

For a stove tester I think an interesting comparison would be the percent
volatile fraction (pipe heated to 450c) contained in a biomass compared to
the make-up of the gasses after the secondary to see if a comparison can be
made. Also; the density of biomass packing (volatile fraction density) in
the stove body. This could account for the differences in straw types or
position placement in a stove. Perhaps it could answer the question of why
one of Richards briquettes works better than another(?) or the differences
resulting from corn cobs vs wood chips etc.   If we see a comparison we
could predict or formulate a blend sure to work. 

Regards

Frank


Frank Shields
Control Laboratories; Inc.
42 Hangar Way
Watsonville, CA  95076
(831) 724-5422 tel
(831) 724-3188 fax
frank at biocharlab.com
www.controllabs.com