Crispin, Perhaps I did not understand the question of determining the efficiency, and jumped to the conclusion that a higher efficiency would imply a higher percentage of char(coal) at the end of the process. I have processed 120 fifty-five gallon (200 l) drums of waste and dead wood into engine grade charcoal, as well as thousands of loads of wood in more than ten different types of cooking and water heating TLUD and Fan driven stoves. From my observations, a retort or stove loaded with Mesquite always produces a larger volume and weight of char than when it is loaded with other types of wood. Please see the link below: <http://lists.bioenergylists.org/pipermail/gasification_lists.bioenergylists.org/2011-April/000716.html> In the communication shown between Dr. Reed and Dr. Karve, Dr. Reed wrote: >>>Lignin's the precursor for >>> charcoal and dictates the ~20% yield of charcoal from most trees. >>> (Mesquite has 64% lignin and yields 30-40% charcoal.) So, realizing now that your original statement dealt with the fraction of carbon in the dry fuel (which I don't know how to measure), and the fraction of carbon in the char expressed as a ratio, would this be a better than using mass? My thought was that if you loaded and fired a stove with 1 kilogram of prepared oak fuel, and then repeated the process with 1 kilogram of prepared mesquite fuel, you would get almost twice as much carbon with one fuel compared to the other. If the same fuel were used in all the stoves being tested, then there might not be a correct answer to the question posed in the previous email... (Do you think it should represent. % of initial (dry) mass or a % of carbon?) However, the world is a big place, and people testing stoves are never going to have the same fuel, so if they all knew how to accurately measure the fraction of carbon, then that method might provide better results. I apologize for butting in...and I will now go back under my rock.
On Sat, May 4, 2013 at 7:43 PM, Crispin Pemberton-Pigott <[email protected]> wrote: > Do you think it should represent. % of initial (dry) mass or a % of carbon? > > Can you give reason for your answer? > > I need a defence of any suggestion and it would best come from the char > makers. > > Thanks > Crispin > From BB9900 > > -----Original Message----- > From: Ray Menke <[email protected]> > Sender: "Stoves" <[email protected]> > Date: Sat, 4 May 2013 19:40:41 > To: Discussion of biomass cooking stoves<[email protected]> > Reply-To: Discussion of biomass cooking stoves > <[email protected]> > Subject: Re: [Stoves] Stove Definition - Char production > > _______________________________________________ > 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/ > > > _______________________________________________ > 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/ > -- Ray Menke _______________________________________________ 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/
