When enough data is available in real time, it is not hard to make progress improving a stove. The LEMS emission hood provides real time, holistic feedback as the experimenter makes changes. Watching all of the measures simultaneously makes it possible to tune a stove like a car. The goal is to burn biomass at […]
ARC worked closely with Dr. Kirk Smith (1947-2020) when we helped to include emissions in the Water Boiling Test, used to evaluate biomass cookstove performance, for the Shell Foundation. We included the first “Tiers of Performance” with a simple approach that divided stoves into two categories: improved and unimproved. It was great to know Kirk […]
Both automobiles and the biomass industry rely on improving combustion efficiency and post combustion reduction of PM2.5 to achieve “clean burning.” It’s really hard to rely on the combustion chamber to burn up enough of the harmful smoke to protect health, especially in large scale applications. Of course, all efforts should be made to be […]
It is more likely that close to 50% thermal efficiency will be achieved with a biomass burning stove when: Small sticks are burned that produce tall, hot flames while using the least amount of wood. A 30cm in diameter aluminum pot is used with a 14cm high pot skirt that creates a 6mm channel gap. […]
During an ETHOS panel discussion on Cooking, Health, and Climate, it was great to see that the Justa stove with chimney protected health so well. Chimneys are mandated by law in the USA/Europe/China and many other countries. When Mahatma Gandhi returned to India from England he introduced chimneys as a logical upgrade of kitchens. The […]
Yesterday morning I was on an ETHOS panel discussing stoves, health and climate change. I loved the discussion and was filled with hope that facing the end of the fossil fuel era might catalyze better use of resources. Living sustainably has been a dream of mine since I was 15 years old in 1967. Like […]
High temperatures in the combustion chamber seem to have both positive and negative effects on emission rates of biomass. Higher temperatures lower the residence time needed for more complete combustion. At the same time, especially with dry wood, the rate of reactions (how much wood gas is being made per unit of time) is increased. […]
ISO 19867-1:2018 is a set of laboratory test protocols for evaluating cookstove performance, published by the International Organization for Standardization. Their Voluntary Performance Targets are a set of baseline criteria defined as tiers – Tier 0 is worst, Tier 5 is best. These ISO Targets measure Thermal Efficiency, Exposure (PM2.5 and CO), Safety, and Durability. […]
One of my favorite reference books is “The Energy Primer” published in 1974. It has comprehensive review articles on solar, wind, water, and biomass energy. The following chart comes from a great article on biomass written by Richard Merrill. When I taught semester courses to college students at ARC, I tried to give students useful […]
A natural draft TLUD can be as clean burning as a forced draft TLUD burning wood pellets. On the other hand, a natural draft Rocket stove needs a fan to be clean burning. Dr. Tom Reed’s forced draft (FD) Woodgas stove achieved an emissions rate of 2mg/min of PM2.5 with pellet fuel (ARC, 2015). The […]