Masonry Heater Fuel Crib Repeatability Testing
January 5 - February 26, 2010
Colorado/MHA crib, calculated for a 22" Heat-Kit at a 20% loading factor
- 4x4's were not available, so were simulated with 2x4's. The calculated length is 12.7"
- Two cribs are burned, with a reload when the oxygen reaches 75% recovery.
- The pile is ignited by burning 3.75 lbs of kindling, and loading the first crib onto the coal bed.
Fuel notes:
- Lumber store 2x4's were used, and found to be very variable in moisture
- not only from the outside to the centre, but also along the length of each 2x4
- only the moisture reading from the centre of the 2x4 was used.
- the scheme below was devised to match the cribs as closely as possible
Crib moisture maps for tests L07 and L08
- Corresponding pieces for the two tests were consecutive to each other on the full length 2x4's.
- Moisture maps for the other tests are with the individual data pages
(Below) Relation between PM number, filter catch and opacity
HK-L07 - 1.55 g/kg
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curve -- matched pairs of tests.
HK-L08 - 1.63 g/kg
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HK-L09 - 1.79 g/kg
- Cribs for L09 and L10 were drier, and both produced higher PM
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HK-L10 - 2.28 g/kg
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HK-L11 - 1.71 g/kg
- L11 and L12 were also drier, and also had higher PM
- L11 and L12 were smaller cribs than L09 and L10 (lower loading factor) and the increase in PM from dryness was less
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HK-L12 - 1.98 g/kg
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HK-L14 - 1.30 g/kg
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HK-L15 - 1.13 g/kg
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Full summary
Control Runs with Cordwood:
Feb 19/10: HK-L16
Feb 20/10: HK-L17
Feb 21/10: HK-L18
Feb 25/10: HK-L19
Feb 26/10: HK-L20
Future testing:
- photo shows newly constructed curing chamber, stocked with 3 species of custom cut 4x4's from a nearby sawmill
- the goal is to have cribs with very narrowly controlled moisture content, for winter 2011 testing
- one idea that has been considered in EPA NSPS talks is to develop a more "real world" crib test, requiring the
appliance to be tested both with dry softwood and wet hardwood.
- any future decisions on test methods will require testing data to serve as a basis for discussion.
- Alex Chernov (Lopez Labs, Caledon) has conducted a preliminary run with a crib of oak at 35% moisture.
This page was updated on
July 26, 2010
This page was created on February 17, 2010