BIOMASS GASIFICATION

Transcription

1 Erin Peiffer Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering University of Dayton DESS: Old Guard Competition Wright State University November 1, 2016 BIOMASS GASIFICATION 1

2 Motivation: Human Health, Deforestation, and Social Issues Human Health: Incomplete combustion results in the release of toxic chemicals [1] Over 2 million premature deaths each year due to respiratory illnesses (almost 5x the annual deaths caused by malaria) [2,3] Deforestation: Nearly 3 billion people currently use and nearly as many are projected to continue to use traditional open, biomass cook stoves in the future [4] 52% of deforestation in Africa due to traditional cook stoves [5] Social Issues: Women typically have to spend more time collecting wood and are susceptible to rape, robbery, and other bodily harm (~28 hours a week)[6] Figure 1. Kenyan Woman Using Traditional Cook Stove [7] 2

3 Traditional Cook Stoves Inefficient method to cook requiring mass amounts of fuel Release harmful emissions into oftentimes poorly ventilated homes [8] Rocket Stoves Efficient and portable stoves Reduce the amount of fuel needed Reduce emissions [10] Figure 2. Three Stone Fire [8] Figure 3. Rocket Works rocket stove [9] 3

4 Traditional Drying Equipment Responsible for 12% of deforestation in Southern Africa alone [11] Typically overfed with wet wood to minimize tending [11] Reduces temperatures produces but increases emissions 18% of drying barns in Malawi burn down a year [11] No preheating of air [11] Rocket Drying Equipment Scaled up version of rocket stove gasifier implemented with insulated structure Efficiently dries crops with minimal fuel while minimizing emissions Preheated air gets recirculated throughout structure Internal ducting designed for improved heat exchange and consistent temperatures inside the barn 4

5 ETHOS Internship at Rocket Works in Durban, South Africa Rocket Works, a small company located in Durban, South Africa that manufactures and sells rocket stoves 5

6 Rocket Barn 6

7 7

8 Results Theoretical Fuel to Dried Crop Ratio: 4.1:1 from testing Significant improvement from the 7:1 ratio often seen when traditional drying methods are used [12] Burn temperatures confirmed gasifier design can provide necessary temperatures to dry crops New feed system design needed to reduce temperature variance 8

9 Conclusions Human Health: Implementation of rocket stoves/barns can significantly decrease the amount of lower respiratory infections, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, lung cancers, heart disease, and cataracts [13] Deforestation: Implementation of one rocket barn can offset nearly 9,000lbs of wood in one drying season [14] This equates to almost 400 acres of trees saved per year with the switch to rocket barns in Malawi alone [11] Social: Through use of more efficient cooking and drying methods, the amount of time spent collecting wood will significantly decrease Increase educational opportunities Women can get jobs and provide financially to family Decreased risk of assault from long trips collecting fuel 9

10 Nyaboth, a 6 year old South Sudan girl with her Rocket Works rocket stove/personal seat at school [15] 10

11 Acknowledgements Thank you to Rocket Works for being a gracious host to me while in South Africa Malcolm Daniels for serving as an advisor both before, during, and after my ETHOS trip Joshua Heyne for advising me in both the DESS and my honors thesis Financial support for this work was provided by the ETHOS Center and the GAR Foundation 11

12 Bibliography [1] Products and Effects of Combustion." BBC. BBC, n.d. Web. 18 Mar [2] "Household Air Pollution and Health." World Health Organization. World Health Organization, Feb Web. 18 Mar [3] "10 Facts on Malaria." World Health Organization. World Health Organization, n.d. Web. 10 Oct [4] Akhilesh, Khopkar. "The Past, Present, and Future of Improved Cookstove Initiatives." North Carolina State University, n.d. Web. 16 Oct [5] "Stoves Save Lives." Clean Cookstoves for the World. BURN Design Lab, n.d. Web. 18 Mar [6] Household Cookstoves, Environment, Health, and Climate Change: A New Look at an Old Problem. The Environment Department (Climate Change) The World Bank, May Web. 10 Oct [7] Kammweru, Alex. "Cooking Smoke and Public Health: What We Saw in Kenya."United Nations Foundation Cooking Smoke and Public Health What We Saw in Kenya Comments. United Nations Foundation, 10 Feb Web. 18 Oct [8] "Three Stone Cooking Fires." Appropedia. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Oct [9] "Well-Tended Fires Outperform Modern Cooking Stoves." Low-Tech Magazine. N.p., June Web. 16 Oct [10] "Why Stoves?" Rocket Works. Rocket Works, 03 Sept Web. 16 Oct [11] ProBEC/GTZ, Limbe Leaf, Aprovecho. Development of Tobacco Rocket Barn for Small Holder Farmers in Malawi. n.d. Pdf File [12] Scott, Peter. Development of Improved Tobacco Curing Barn for Small Holder Farmers in Southern Africa. (n.d.): n. Pag. 24 June Web. 10 Oct [13] The State of the Global Clean and Improved Cooking Sector. Energy Sector Management Assistance Program and Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves, May Web. 17 Oct [14] Cornali, Michael, and Adrian Padt. "Rocket Works Hybrid Tobacco Drying Barn." YouTube. YouTube, 13 Aug Web. 17 Oct [15] UNICEF. 13. Sept In Facebook Page. Web 18 Oct. 2016