A major accomplishment of the past few years has been the creation of thirty Regional Testing and Knowledge Centers (RTKCs). Many of these facilities rely on emissions equipment and training from Aprovecho Research Center. They are usually created as an addition to a university in a developing country, and were initially funded by large development organizations such as the Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves.

Once a month we’re turning our newsletter over to Sam Bentson, to tell you more about their activities:

Hello to everyone at the Regional Knowledge and Testing Centers (RTKCs), and to our newsletter readers, from Sam Bentson, General Manager at Aprovecho!

Sam was recently in Ghana and Senegal and then visited the Instituto de Investigación y Desarrollo de Procesos Químicos (CPC) in La Paz, Bolivia helping with stove testing and their LEMS emission hood. La Paz has the highest elevation of any government city in the world at an altitude of 3,650m!

The atmospheric pressure at CPC in La Paz is 20Hg. Our lab in Oregon is 241 meters above sea level where the atmospheric pressure is 30Hg. Sam and the CPC staff determined that at their high elevation, and with the voltage applied to the Jet-Flame motor increased to 8V, the mass flow in the Jet-Flame was 82% of the mass flow measured at the ARC lab.

Altitude had a big effect on boiling water and on the Jet-Flame!

When Sam returned home, he started thinking about keeping in touch with all of his friends at the RTKCs and to share reports of activities. We are starting with CPC and highly recommend that anyone interested in doing research or a stove project make use of this wonderful resource in Bolivia!

Contact:

Marcelo Gorritty
Email: mgorritty@gmail.com
Calle Campos, Esq. Pasaje Villegas.
Edificio Artemis 367. PB Of. 7
La Paz, Boliviawww.cpc-bolivia.org