Testing Creosote-Removing Devices

Article Tools

Image Gallery

Print

E-mail

Comments

RSS

THE TEST PROCEDURE

An array of identical stoves—some equipped with devices and others without—are being operated simultaneously for ten days . . . under a variety of firing conditions. Each product being tested has been installed on a pair of stoves (see the diagram of the experimental setup), and two heaters are being run without devices . . . to serve as controls. By arranging the experiment in this fashion, we can check on the consistency and re producibility of both the devices' effects and the test methods.

Creosote accumulation is determined by weighing the "test portions" of the chimneys before and after the test. These sections consist of single-wall stovepipe located inside the laboratory . . . where the controlled climate can give better experimental control and reproducibility of results. Using stovepipe instead of factory-built chimney increases the amount of creosote that accumulates, since the flue gases cool off more rapidly when passing through standard stovepipe.

A variety of different wood species and moisture contents are being used to fuel the stoves over the course of the experiment, but the same species and moisture content are used in all six heaters at any given fuel loading. Furthermore, for each refueling, all six loads have the same weight within 10%, and the total fuel weights for each stove over a day are the same to within 1%.

The combustion air controls on all the appliances are set to maintain the same burning conditions . . . using the temperatures of the flue gases just below the devices and the appearance of the fires as indicators of uniformity. As shown in the diagram, flue gas temperatures are being measured both below the devices and above them in the test sections of the stovepipes. The temperatures are being monitored constantly, using recorders.

The stoves will be fired for about ten days at a mixture of high and low burn rates . . . in order to simulate home stove use realistically and to assure that any creosote reducer that performs better under particular firing conditions gets a chance to show its capabilities. Each stovepipe test section will then be reweighed. Both "wet" and "dry" weights will be measured (the sections will be placed in a 200°F oven for roughly three days before the second weighing). From previous experience we know that significant amounts of water can be trapped in the creosote deposits on the flue walls, which could distort the results if no dry weight were taken.

RSS | Comments | E-mail | Print