Hi Dean,
Anything as close to real world I am in favor of. So I agree about using the water boiling test as-is. But I do like the design of the method Alex described that included all the necessary checks that make for a good, repeatable test. Well designed. I may use it here for measuring heat increase in cubic meter size, self-heating compost bins with compost-char experiments. Thinking a coil of water filled tubing would work better getting a more representative reading than a thermometer stuck in the center. And maybe someday I will actually get to test some stoves. Regards Frank Frank Shields Control Laboratories; Inc. 42 Hangar Way Watsonville, CA 95076 (831) 724-5422 tel (831) 724-3188 fax [email protected] www.controllabs.com From: Stoves [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Dean Still Sent: Sunday, October 13, 2013 3:38 PM To: Discussion of biomass cooking stoves Subject: Re: [Stoves] Thermal efficiency Hi Frank and Alex, Boiling 2.5 or 5 liters of water in a pot shows if the stove is capable of doing one of the tasks which are often needed for cooking food. It's important information. Boiling and simmering are both frequently needed when cooking. The WBT published by VITA was patterned after actual cooking tasks for good reasons. Best, Dean On Sun, Oct 13, 2013 at 12:43 PM, Frank Shields <[email protected]> wrote: Dear Alex, I like it. Easy to calibrate a flow meter with a stop watch and volumetric flask and both temperature meters calibrated using the same temperature water to make sure they read the same. So we can all be on the same page using different equipment in different parts of the world. So one thermometer is set, say 30c higher than the other and we plot the flow of water? Perhaps bucket filling with water on a balance being plotted? Or flow gauge? Thanks Frank Frank Shields Control Laboratories; Inc. 42 Hangar Way Watsonville, CA 95076 (831) 724-5422 <tel:%28831%29%20724-5422> tel (831) 724-3188 <tel:%28831%29%20724-3188> fax [email protected] www.controllabs.com From: Stoves [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Alex English Sent: Sunday, October 13, 2013 10:54 AM To: Discussion of biomass cooking stoves Subject: Re: [Stoves] Thermal efficiency Crispin, On the heat transfer side there are clearly a lot of variables. Get rid of them like we do with boilers. Use a sealed pot with its contents (water) kept at a constant temperature (example; either high ~90C in-95C out, with no condensation or low ~55C in-60C out, with some condensation or both) and a flow meter to measure the thermal work done. A modern automated three way valve controlling the flow through a heat exchanger can regulate the return temperature precisely. The pot can be any pot with a non standards lid disc with in/out plumbing connections, glued with silicone to the top of the pot. It should withstand a few inches of water pressure with a stand pipe open to the atmosphere after the outflow thermocouple. The vapour losses then are outside of the measurement frame. The pot could be filled with water or be part filled and have a vapour/air head space. Flow rates and velocities could be high enough to eliminate biases between pots or to mimic natural convective patterns within the pot. All you need is a whole bunch of disc lids from 20 to ??cm in diameter in 1cm increments, or custom make them as the required. Or you can see how many different efficiencies you can fit on the head of a pin. Heuristically yours, Alex On 13/10/2013 11:21 AM, Crispin Pemberton-Pigott wrote: Dear Friends As we are, at the CAU stoves conference, talking about thermal efficiency tomorrow, here is something to think about. ++++++++ Efficiency is a ratio, but of what to what? Let us follow the heat and decide which 'efficiency' we want to report. 1. Heat available in the raw fuel if it was to be burned completely 2. Heat available in the dry portion of the raw fuel 3. Heat available from the fire considering incomplete combustion 4. Heat available to the pot, at the pot in the hot gas stream passing by 5. Heat transferred to the pot - all of it 6. Heat transferred to the pot and subsequently lost from the pot into the surrounding environment 7. Heat absorbed the pot material changing its temperature 8. Heat absorbed by the water - all of it 9. Heat absorbed by the water changing its temperature 10. Heat absorbed by the water and evaporating water (whether the water is hot or not) 11. Heat absorbed by the water and lost from the water (by radiation, not by evaporation) 12. Heat absorbed into the food and being absorbed chemically (transforming it into cooked food) System efficiency [Overall thermal efficiency] is (7+9+10+12)/1. [When boiling water only #12=0] Heat transfer efficiency is .. ? Which one is the one you were thinking of when asked about 'thermal efficiency'? +++++++++ Regards Crispin _______________________________________________ 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/
_______________________________________________ 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/
