Performance Characterization of Biomass-Fueled Camp Stoves
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PERFORMANCE CHARACTERIZATION OF BIOMASS-FUELED CAMP STOVES A thesis presented to the faculty of the Graduate School of Western Carolina University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Technology By Juan Jose Endara Loaiza Advisor: Dr. Wes Stone School of Engineering + Technology Committee Members: Dr. Sudhir Kaul, School of Engineering + Technology Dr. Joe Fahmy, School of Engineering + Technology December 2019 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First and foremost, I would like to thank my mother, Jenny Loaiza and my father, Ramon Endara for their boundless support of my endeavors. I am grateful for the sacrifices you have made in order to give our family the best opportunities. I would like to thank my committee members and director for their assistance and encouragement; in particular: Dr. Yanik, Dr. Stone, Dr. Sezer, Dr, Fahmy, Dr. Kaul, and Dr. Granda. I am grateful to Dr. Stone for his advice and for funding this thesis. I am grateful to Dr. Kaul for helping me edit the content of this thesis to present it in the best possible way. I am grateful to Dr. Fahmy for helping me obtain the thermocouples and datalogger. I am grateful to Dr. Sezer, for introducing me to the National Combustion Meeting; I am also grateful to Dr. Granda, for introducing me to the SACNAS conference. I am grateful to Dr. Jack, the office of diversity and the graduate school for covering my conference travel costs. I also extend sincere thanks to the following people, without whom this thesis would not have been possible. Dr. Al Fischer, thank you for teaching me how to use the bomb calorimeter. Mr. Timm Muth, thank you for assisting me with the drying of the fuel. Finally, thank you to Sunrise Sawmill for their donation of fresh-cut white pinewood. TABLE OF CONTENTS PERFORMANCE CHARACTERIZATION OF BIOMASS-FUELED CAMP STOVES .... I ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ........................................................................................................ II TABLE OF CONTENTS ........................................................................................................... III LIST OF TABLES .................................................................................................................... VII LIST OF FIGURES ................................................................................................................. VIII LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS .................................................................................................... XI ABSTRACT ............................................................................................................................... XII CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION ......................................................................................... 1 1.1 MOTIVATION .............................................................................................................................. 1 1.1.1 Sustainability.................................................................................................................. 1 1.2 CAMPING IN THE UNITED STATES .............................................................................................. 3 1.2.1 Backpacking. .................................................................................................................. 4 1.3 CAMPING STOVE DATA .............................................................................................................. 6 CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW ............................................................................ 8 2.1 HISTORY .................................................................................................................................... 8 2.1.1 Soyer Portable Stove. ..................................................................................................... 8 2.1.2 Hibachi Portable Stove. ................................................................................................. 9 2.2 STOVE RESEARCH .................................................................................................................... 10 2.2.1 Performance Evaluation of Wood-Burning Cookstoves in Rural Areas near Pucallpa, Peru. ...................................................................................................................................... 10 2.2.2 Energy Performance of Wood-Burning Cook Stoves in Michoacán, Mexico. ............ 12 2.3 STOVE FUEL ............................................................................................................................. 15 2.3.1 Fuel Heating Value ...................................................................................................... 15 2.3.2 Renewable Fuel ............................................................................................................ 19 2.3.3 Non-renewable Fuels ................................................................................................... 21 2.4 HEAT TRANSFER PROCESS ....................................................................................................... 24 2.4.1 Water Boil Test ............................................................................................................ 24 2.4.2 Wood Combustion ....................................................................................................... 25 2.4.3 Types of Heat and Mass Transfer ................................................................................ 28 CHAPTER 3: METHODS ......................................................................................................... 37 3.1 TEST INSTRUMENTATION ......................................................................................................... 37 iii 3.1.1 Thermocouples ............................................................................................................. 37 3.1.2 Data Logger ................................................................................................................. 41 3.1.3 Wood-Fuel ................................................................................................................... 42 3.1.4 Moisture Meter............................................................................................................. 44 3.1.5 Scale ............................................................................................................................. 45 3.2 STOVES TESTED ....................................................................................................................... 47 3.3 CALCULATIONS ........................................................................................................................ 48 3.3.1 Wood Moisture Content ............................................................................................... 49 3.3.2 Wood Calorimetry ....................................................................................................... 49 3.3.3 Water Boil Test Outputs .............................................................................................. 57 CHAPTER FOUR: RESULTS .................................................................................................. 60 4.1 WOOD FUEL MOISTURE RESULTS ............................................................................................ 60 4.2 CALORIMETRY RESULTS .......................................................................................................... 62 4.2.1 Benzoic Acid Calibration. ............................................................................................ 62 4.2.2 White Pine Calorimetry ............................................................................................... 63 4.3 PERFORMANCE OUTPUTS ......................................................................................................... 65 4.3.1 Efficiency Results ........................................................................................................ 65 4.3.2 Boil Time Results ........................................................................................................ 66 4.3.3 Firepower Results ........................................................................................................ 67 4.3.4 Specific Fuel Consumption Results ............................................................................. 67 4.3.5 Burning Rate Results ................................................................................................... 67 4.3.6 Char Remaining After Testing ..................................................................................... 68 4.3.7 Water Evaporated During Testing ............................................................................... 68 4.4 TIME VS TEMPERATURE GRAPHS ............................................................................................. 68 CHAPTER FIVE: DISCUSSION, CONCLUSIONS AND FUTURE RESEARCH ............ 70 5.1 DISCUSSION ............................................................................................................................. 70 5.1.1 Solo Stove .................................................................................................................... 70 5.1.2 Ouspots Stove .............................................................................................................. 73 iv 5.1.3 Emberlit Stove ............................................................................................................. 76 5.1.4 Lixada Stove ...............................................................................................................