[Stoves] History of clean Chinese stove development. Re: Rights about stove designs Re: [biochar-stoves]

[Crispin Pemberton-Pigott]

Dear Paul

That linked document has this to say: “For biomass cooking, pending further
evidence from the field, significant health benefits are possible only with
the highest quality fan gasifier stoves
”

 

I don’t know who invented that idea – it is traceable to Kirk Smith
(Bangkok, Nov 2010) but I think the concept that ‘the only really clean
stoves are fan assisted gasifiers’ is older than that. Maybe it emerged from
Berkeley. It doesn’t matter.

 

It is not true. 

Is that clear enough? How else can we say it? It is not true that the only
really clean stoves are fan assisted gasifiers. This caution is also
contained in the statement, “It is not true that the only really clean
stoves are fan assisted or ND TLUD pyrolysers.”

The most expensive externally funded improved stove replacement programme in
the world is the Mongolian urban ger stove programme, funded by the US-based
MCC through the MCA-Mongolia account, the WB, the Asian Development Bank and
the City Government of Ulaanbaatar. There are a large number of additional
players including Xaas Bank, carbon trading funders and national Ministries.


Assiduously examining a large number of stove options, and creating an
advanced testing laboratory on a shoe string, incorporating a test method
that predicts reasonably the field performance (field testing proved to be
nearly impossible, even for LBNL, which tried hard) a set of stoves that are
well over 90% cleaner than the baseline stoves (several >98%) was selected
for distribution. Not one of them is fan assisted and not one of them is a
pyrolyser save in the sense that all coal stoves are pyrolysers. Certainly
it is true that all solid fuel stoves are gasifiers. Quibbling will not
change the fact flames burn gas.

A lot of people worked hard to bring this together and pull off the biggest
clean-up of a major city’s air ever accomplished without changing the fuel –
because the fuel was never the problem. It is an excellent fuel and burns so
cleanly the stove comparison chart would have to create two more tiers to
fairly accommodate them. The fact that this achievement is still ignored
continues to stain the ICS community. The reason for this is obvious: coal
is supposed to be the demon fuel that cannot be burned cleanly. Millions of
people are going to burn coal for a long time to come – deal with it. Burn
it properly.

These super-clean stoves originate from Turkey, China and Mongolia. The
producers pay no attention to anything going on in the “TLUD world”, even
though all but one of them is a TLUD.  It is unfortunate that the fictions
that “solid fuels cannot be burned cleanly”, and “only fans work”, and “coal
cannot be burned cleanly” because it contains “pollution” are repeated by
those who should know their field better.  Making these statements makes the
speaker look like a disconnected amateur. Modern Austrian fireplaces are
cleaner than most very improved stoves and they are made of brick for
heaven’s sake. They are not even ‘stoves’. The Russians are building ‘bell’
heat exchangers that are brilliant. 

The IC stove community has to start living in the present. 

Here is a test of the laboratory air at the SEET lab and the emissions of a
cross draft stove (currently reproduced exactly by a small local welding
shop in Ulaanbaatar):



These two Dusttraks were compared with each other before this photo was
taken. They agreed within 2 micrograms at a concentration of more than 400.
The one on the left is brand new, brought by LBNL (Berkeley) measuring the
ambient air (195 µg/m3) and the one on the right is from SEET Lab sampling
directly from the chimney (0 µg/m3). That is a clean stove. The dirty air
going into the stove is being cleaned by the fire, while burning wet
lignite: 50% volatiles (AD) and 26% moisture.

It is high time to admit that coal and indeed wood can be burned by a number
of methods extremely well.  No fuel has a monopoly on cleanliness.  The
concept of a ‘dirty fuel’ is archaic and was never correct. It was always a
misconception.

Equally incorrect is the idea that ethanol, for example, is a ‘clean fuel’.
I have just seen a test of an ethanol stove that doesn’t come close to
meeting the South African kerosene stove test requirement at high power or
low. This is quite common. Most ethanol stoves are not very clean when it
comes to CO. They literally can’t hold a candle to the stoves sold in
Ulaanbaatar that burn lignite. Why? Bad combustion.

What’s next? China of course. And India. Why should their stove programmes
be held back by errant preconceptions originating within the ‘clean air’ and
‘clean stove’ communities? If the clean air and clean stove communities
can’t keep up with reality, others will step in to lead. Projects are not
going to be willing to spend $50m on junk science claims. Or $500m.

Paul, you are correct to ask for references. The method of burning coal
“TLUD” is called the ‘Scotch Method’ in South African and goes back over a
century. I believe Prof Lloyd has some sources for that because he was
thinking about the problem in the mid-70’s.

Regards to all

Crispin

 

 
In case you have not seen this, micro-gasifiers have received some
significant recognition (ESMAP + GACC 2015 publication, page 90). 
https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/bitstream/handle/10986/21878/96499.pdf  

 “The most exciting technology trend in the biomass cookstove sector is
the growing range of forced draft and natural draft gasifier stoves.  These
stoves have shown the greatest
potential to improve health and environmental outcomes, at least under
laboratory conditions.”  (ESMAP 2015, p. 90).  
 

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