> Lanny Henson Tue Apr 9 12:58:26 MDT 2013 wrote: > Julien, > Have you tried top lighting the 30 gal drum of straw? > Do you have problems maintaining an open, central, air flow, pathway? > Lanny
Lanny; I did not try top lighting the 30 gal drum with a hollow core in the bed of straw. That is probably worth trying, but the paint can tests suggest that it may not work if the reaction is in TLUD mode. I have not had trouble with the central hole in a bed of straw collapsing during a burn. Gasified straw maintained its structure, even though it had lost ca. 80% of its mass. I think my next move is to bottom light a 30 gal bed of straw containing multiple vertical holes, to see if I can shorten the path length for the convection of gases and heat. If I can get that to work, I will try top lighting it as a TLUD. I like the TLUD process in theory, because the oxygen is used up in the descending ignition fire, and not in ashing charcoal, as occurs with bottom lighting. However, I will not be running any more trials for a week, because we have rain and possibly snow in the forecast. I find that a paint can reactor is a fairly good model for a 30 gal drum reactor. I can easily test equipment designs, fuels and procedures. I can run several trials in an hour and not use too much feedstock, and I can run replicates to be sure. I can also run special photo-ops, such as in the dark. If a paint can trial is a failure and I have to put it out, I don't have to dispose of much waste straw. By contrast, a run of the 30 gal reactor can take a couple of hours, plus, if it goes really badly and I create heaps of smoke, I could be visited by the city fire brigade. Alas, I am not working in a farmyard, but in a suburbia. One-upon-a-time, my family used to collect cows, but not any more. Thanks to all for the input, cheers, Julien. -- Julien Winter Cobourg, ON, CANADA _______________________________________________ Stoves mailing list to Send a Message to the list, use the email address [email protected] to UNSUBSCRIBE or Change your List Settings use the web page http://lists.bioenergylists.org/mailman/listinfo/stoves_lists.bioenergylists.org for more Biomass Cooking Stoves, News and Information see our web site: http://stoves.bioenergylists.org/
