[Stoves] Development of culturally appropriate stove testing methods

[Paul Anderson]

Stovers,

I have read major parts, but not all of the publication, so my comments 
could be incorrect or insufficient.   But here goes:

https://www.researchgate.net/project/Development-of-Culturally-Appropriate-Stove-Testing-Methods

1.  Congratualations to Tafadzwe (known to his friends as Taffy, but 
maybe with a different spelling) and his three co-authors (including 
Crispin).  This publication should be studied widely.  (Crispin, please 
be sure that the co-authors receive this message and can send replies to 
the Stoves Listserv directly or via you.)

2.  It is about stove testing METHODS.   Key is the water heating test 
(WHT) as an alternative to the water boiling test (WBT). Bring the pot 
of water to 80 deg C and then put on another pot to continue heating, 
repeat as long as the test time.   Also of importance is that the stoves 
are on a sensitive scale that can reveal the weight loss (fuel used) as 
the test progresses.

3.  The changing of the pot of water means no intentional changing of 
the power of the stove during the test.   That is, there is no 
"simmering" stage (which is a major contention in the WBT).   And no 
"fiddling" with the turn-down abilities.   A stove can be run at high 
power, and again SEPARATELY at middle or low power.  But not mixing the 
power levels.   This is especially applicable to stoves that do not have 
much or any turn-down ability.   (see discussion of stoves below).

(Comment:  Regardless of whether the WBT is used or not, the WHT appears 
to  me to  be logical and useful.)

4.  The title of the publication is:
> Heterogeneous Stove Testing Methods for the Evaluation of Domestic 
> Solid-Fuel Cookstoves
I am not so sure that the word "heterogeneous" is the right term, but 
that could just be my personal opinion.
The words "culturally appropriate" (in the Subject line of the email 
from Crispin) were not seen in the publication (I did not see them) and 
the publication does not make an issue about culturally appropriate 
testing of cooking methods.

5.  "Solid-Fuel" is a key term, and in this publication does NOT refer 
to wood or dry biomass.   The fuels discussed are charcoal and coal.   
That is fine, but they are a limited subset of the varieties of solid 
fuels.

6.  Therefore, the stoves tested included 2 charcoal stoves, a 
coal-fueled downdraft gasifier, and the common South African Imbuela 
(bucket burning of coal) that was IGNITED IN TWO DIFFERENT WAYS. The 
traditional way is to ignite at the bottom (call it bottom lit or BL) 
and the other is at the top (top lit or TL).  See the report for the 
differences.   My one comment is that the use of the "TLUD" name 
(normally associated with wood micro-gasification) is a bit of a stretch 
when presenting a single-walled, metal, "largish" bucket with many side 
holes and filled with coal.

7.  The publication opens the door for further testing that should 
established stoves, with comparative data of the WHT and the WBT so that 
the science of stove testing can be advanced.   Maybe Crispin or Taffy 
can tell us about any further plans (or options) for stove testing with 
the WHT.

My appologies in advance for any omissions or mis-understandings.

Paul

Doc  /  Dr TLUD  /  Prof. Paul S. Anderson, PhD
Email:  psanders at ilstu.edu
Skype:   paultlud    Phone: +1-309-452-7072
Website:  www.drtlud.com

On 6/5/2018 8:30 AM, Crispin Pemberton-Pigott wrote:
> Dear Friends
>
> From Dr Tafadzwe Makonese at the SeTAR Centre:
>
> https://www.researchgate.net/project/Development-of-Culturally-Appropriate-Stove-Testing-Methods
> Regards
> Crispin
>
> Abstract
>
> More rigorous and detailed test procedures are desirable to determine 
> the effect of various design modifications on the performance of 
> fuel/cookstove combinations, and to optimize their performance. This 
> research paper investigated the effect of a novel heterogeneous 
> testing method to evaluate the performance of domestic solid 
> fuel/cookstove combinations. The water-heating test (WHT) and the 
> 'hood' method were used as the basis of the tests with additional 
> variants of fuel load, power setting and method of ignition. The 
> experimental cookstoves included a typical brazier (Imbaula), a new 
> type Mozambique ceramic cookstove, the baseline Mozambique metal 
> cookstove, and the bottom-lit down-drafting (BLDD) coal cookstove. 
> Results showed that a heterogeneous testing method provides more 
> representative performance data over a wide range of usage scenarios, 
> the equivalent of providing performance curves rather than the minimum 
> and maximum performance points provided by single tasked based 
> methods. This novel heterogeneous testing method generates robust and 
> diagnostic results with which to compare fuel/cookstove technologies. 
> Cookstove designers and programme managers who wish to improve the 
> design of existing and new cookstoves, and to promote efficient 
> fuel/cookstove technologies based on sound laboratory tests can use 
> the principles explored in this study.
>
>
>
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