The Wood Stove Design Challenge, an international competition to showcase innovative and clean-burning wood stoves, will begin on Nov. 9 on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. The goal is to demonstrate how improved designs including sensors and computer controls can make wood stoves cleaner and more efficient. One portion of the competition will focus on how electricity can be produced from wood and pellet stoves and be paired with rooftop solar and other renewable technologies. The event is free and open to the public through Nov. 13.

More than 10 million American households use wood stoves to heat their homes, but they are a significant source of ambient particulate matter (PM) emissions. The technology boom of the past few decades has largely missed the wood stove industry, yet innovation still holds great promise. Moreover, all stoves in America were tested for EPA certification with 2x4s for fuel. The Northeast States for Coordinated Air Use Management and Brookhaven National Lab, with support from the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority, have been researching new methods for the next generation of assessment protocols for wood heating appliances.

Research has focused on in-home use to operational practices, user fueling patterns and new real-time measurement method techniques. The results of this work will be showcased during a demonstration on a wood stove providing real-time results. Automated stoves that are designed and tested with this new, robust cordwood test method can help improve wood stove designs and in-use performance, leading to higher efficiency and lower emissions.


Source: http://www.biomassmagazine.com