EMISSIONS CHARACTERISTICS OF A RESIDENTIAL PELLET BOILER AND A STOVE

Gaseous and particulate emissions from a residential pellet boiler and a stove are measured at a realistic 6-day operation sequence and during steady state operation. The aim is to characterize the emissions during each phase in order to identify when the major part of the emissions occur to enable actions for emission reduction where the savings can be highest. The characterized emissions comprised carbon monoxide (CO), nitrogen oxide (NO), total organic carbon (TOC) and particulate matter (PM 2.5). In this study, emissions were characterised by mass concentration and emissions during start-up and stop phases were also presented in accumulated mass. The influence of start-up and stop phases on the emissions, average emission factors for the boiler and stove were analysed using the measured data from a six-days test. The share of start-up and stop emissions are significant for CO and TOC contributing 95% and 89% respectively at the 20kW boiler and 82% and 89% respectively at the 12 kW stove. NO and particles emissions are shown to dominate during stationary operation.

Spatial modeling of data with excessive zeros applied to reindeer pellet-group counts

We analyze a real data set pertaining to reindeer fecal pellet-group counts obtained from a survey conducted in a forest area in northern Sweden. In the data set, over 70% of counts are zeros, and there is high spatial correlation. We use conditionally autoregressive random effects for modeling of spatial correlation in a Poisson generalized linear mixed model (GLMM), quasi-Poisson hierarchical generalized linear model (HGLM), zero-inflated Poisson (ZIP), and hurdle models. The quasi-Poisson HGLM allows for both under- and overdispersion with excessive zeros, while the ZIP and hurdle models allow only for overdispersion. In analyzing the real data set, we see that the quasi-Poisson HGLMs can perform better than the other commonly used models, for example, ordinary Poisson HGLMs, spatial ZIP, and spatial hurdle models, and that the underdispersed Poisson HGLMs with spatial correlation fit the reindeer data best. We develop R codes for fitting these models using a unified algorithm for the HGLMs. Spatial count response with an extremely high proportion of zeros, and underdispersion can be successfully modeled using the quasi-Poisson HGLM with spatial random effects.

In Bio-Fuel We Trust

In bio-fuel we trust. Or do we? In this chapter, ethnographic material from Sweden is used to discuss ways sin which trust may influence the choice of bio-fuel for heating purposes. The meaning and substance of trust or distrust, as well as the very conditions for trust, are elaborated on in relation to solar and bio-pellet systems, district heating with bio-fuel, and traditional fireplaces. An important conclusion of this chapter is that the degree to which people perceive others as being like themselves or not tends to be decisive for whether these others are to be trusted, and therefore worth listening to. The context and situation in which a certain heating system is being chosen does not only involve trust in individuals, however, but in companies and the authorities, as well as in the arterfacts themselves. An example is given on how distrust of district heating companies led house owners to reject an offer of district heating despite the comfort and environmental benefit this could have provided. it is shown how this distrust might be resolved by making the rhythm of households and sitrict heating companies more in step with one another. The strong emotional attachment to and deep-felt trust in the traditional fireplace is also analysed, and a question is put forward as to whether these feelings could be transferred to modern bio-pellet stoves. Finally, our great and assured trust in bio-fuel as a main solution to global climate change is shortly commented upon and partly questioned.

The actual status of the development of a Danish/Swedish system concept of a solar combisystem

At the beginning of 2003 the four year long research project REBUS on education, research, development and demonstration of competitive solar combisystems was launched. Research groups in Norway, Denmark, Sweden and Latvia are working together with partners from industry on innovative solutions for solar heating in the Nordic countries. Existing system concepts have been analyzed and based on the results new system designs have been developed. The proposed solutions have to fulfill country specific technical, sociological and cost requirements. Due to the similar demands on the systems in Denmark and Sweden it has been decided to develop a common system concept for both countries, which increases the market potential for the manufacturer. The focus of the development is on systems for the large number of rather well insulated existing single family houses. In close collaboration with the industrial partners a system concept has been developed that is characterized by its high compactness and flexibility. It allows the use of different types of boilers, heating distribution systems and a variable store and collector size. Two prototypes have been built, one for the Danish market with a gas boiler, and one for the Swedish market with a pellet boiler as auxiliary heater. After intensive testing and eventual further improvements at least two systems will be installed and monitored in demonstration houses. The systems have been modeled in TRNSYS and the simulation results will be used to further improve the system and evaluate the system performance.

Development of a Compact Solar Combisystem

Within the frame of the project REBUS, "Competitive solar heating systems for residential buildings", which is financed by Nordic Energy Research, a new type of compact solar combisystem with high degree of prefabrication was developed. A hydraulic and control concept was designed with the goal to get highest system efficiency for use with either a condensing natural gas boiler or a pellet boiler. Especially when using the potential of high peak power of modern condensing natural gas boilers, a new operation strategy of a natural gas boiler/solar combisystem can increase the energy savings of a small solar combisystem by about 80% compared to conventional operation strategies.

Competitive Solar Heating Systems for Residential Buildings (REBUS)

Research on solar combisystems for the Nordic and Baltic countries have been carriedout. The aim was to develop competitive solar combisystems which are attractive tobuyers and to educate experts in the solar heating field.The participants of the projects were the universities: Technical University of Denmark,Dalarna University, University of Oslo, Riga Technical University and Lund Institute ofTechnology, as well as the companies: Metro Therm A/S (Denmark), Velux A/S(Denmark), Solentek AB (Sweden), SolarNor (Norway) and SIA Grandeg (Latvia).The project included education, research, development and demonstration. Theactivities started in 2003 and were finished by the end of 2006. A number of Ph.D.studies in Denmark, Sweden and Latvia, and a post-doc. study in Norway were carriedout. Close cooperation between the researchers and the industry partners ensured thatthe results of the projects can be utilized. The industry partners will soon be able tobring the developed systems into the market.In Denmark and Norway the research and development focused on solarheating/natural gas systems, and in Sweden and Latvia the focus was on solarheating/pellet systems. Additionally, Lund Institute of Technology and University ofOslo studied solar collectors of various types being integrated into the building.

Solar thermal components adapted to common building standards (SCAS)

Pilot versions of a solar heating/natural gas burner system, of a solar heating/pellet burner system and of a façade/roof integrated polymeric collector have been installed in the summer of 2006 in a number of demonstration houses in Denmark, Sweden and Norway.These three new products have been evaluated by means of measurements of the thermal performance and energy savings of the pilot systems in practice and by means of a commercial evaluation.The conclusion of the evaluations is that the products are attractive for the industry partners METRO THERM A/S, Solentek and SOLARNOR. It is expected that the companies will bring the products into the market in 2007.Further, the results of the project have been presented atinternational and national congresses and seminars for the solar heating branch. The congresses and seminars attracted a lot of interested participants.Furthermore, the project results have been published in international congress papers as well as in national journals in the energy field.Consequently, the Nordic solar heating industry will benefit from the project.

Kombinerade bio- och solvärmesystem : Handbok för systemutformning

Syftet med denna skrift är att sammanställa den kunskap som finns beträffande kombinerade pellet- och solvärmesystem för att på så sätt stödja företagen i deras systemutveckling. Denna skrift behandlar erfarenheter som gjorts inom forskning på sol och pellet och omsätter dessa i praktiska råd för systemutformning. Förslag ges på systemutformning, olika tekniska lösningar samt hur systemen bör styras.När solvärme och pellet skall kombineras finns det många möjligheter att koppla ihop systemen. Det finns olika traditioner i olika länder, vilket gör att systemlösningarna varierar från land till land. En generell slutsats är dock att konventionella svenska pannor med inbyggd varmvattenberedning inte är lämpliga i konventionella solvärmesystem. Det ger komplicerade systemlösningar och det är svårt att åstadkomma bra skiktning i tanken.I ett solvärmesystem är det viktigt att tanken kan laddas ur på ett sådant sätt att kraftig skiktning erhålls. Det betyder att tankens botten skall kylas ner till temperaturen på ingående kallvatten och att tankens mellersta del skall kylas till samma temperatur som radiatorreturen. Om solfångaren även vintertid kan arbeta med att förvärma kallvatten av 10 till 20ºC fås en betydligt bättre verkningsgrad på solfångaren än om radiator returen skall förvärmas, som i bästa fall ligger på en temperaturnivå på mellan 30 och 40ºC. Av denna anledning skall radiator returen placeras en bra bit upp från botten i ackumulatortanken och tappvattnet skall förvärmas i en slinga som börjar i tankens botten. Om det finns ett VVC-system måste systemet anslutas på ett speciellt sätt så att inte tankens skiktning störs.En annan viktig parameter i tankens utformning är att värmeförlusterna hålls låga, detta är viktigt för att klara tappvattenlasten mulna perioder och för att hålla energianvändningen låg. I moderna hus där tanken placeras i boutrymmet blir det också en komfortfråga för att undvika över-temperaturer i rummet där tanken placeras. För att få en bra isolering måste man se till att det finns ett lufttätt skikt över hela isoleringen som dessutom sluter tätt mot röranslutningar. Ofrivillig själv-cirkulation i anslutande kretsar som kan kyla av och blanda om ackumulatortanken skall förhindras med backventiler.Vid design av solfångarkretsen måste överhettning och stagnation kunna klaras utan glykolnedbrytning eller andra skador. Partiell förångning innebär att man låter solfångaren koka på ett kontrollerat sätt så att endast ånga blir kvar i solfångaren. Vätska samlas i ett större expansionskärl och systemet återfylls när vätskan kondenserar. Dränerande system med enbart vatten är också en möjlighet, men kräver större noggrannhet vid installationen så att sönderfrysning undviks.Pelletkaminer (luftburna) ger god komfort och lågt elbehov i direktelvärmda hus med öppen planlösning, dvs. om värmen från kaminen kan spridas till alla rum utan att behöva passera genom mer än en dörröppning. Även i lågenergihus kan den luftburna kaminen vara lämplig. I hus med mer sluten planlösning krävs en vattenmantlad kamin med hög andel värme till vattenkretsen och ett vattenburet värmesystem. Det är viktigt att sådana system utformas korrekt för att komforten skall bli hög och elanvändningen låg. Brukarens aspekter och komfortkrav måste beaktas vid användning av kaminer, eftersom det krävs en temperaturskillnad mellan olika rum för att få värmespridning från det rum där kaminen är placerad.

Slutrapport för EU-projekt SolNET P22416-1

SolNET var den första europeiska forskarskolan för termisk solvenergi med 10 doktorander, där sju gemensamma doktorandkurser utvecklades och genomfördes under projektets gång. Projektet stöddes av EU-programmet Marie-Curie från juni 2006 till maj 2010.Centrum för solenergiforskning SERC vid Högskolan Dalarna deltog med en doktorand, Janne Paavilainen. SERC genomförde den första av doktorandkurserna, om dynamisk systemsimulering. 30 studenter deltog från 16 länder varav 22 var doktorander och tre var från industri.Under 2007 genomförde Paavilainen en teknoekonomisk utvärdering av mellanstora pellet- och solvärmesystem för närvärme som presenterades vid konferensen Eurosun 2008. Resultaten visar under vilka förutsättningar som solvärme kan vara ekonomisk lönsamt i närvärmesystem i Sverige och Finland. Paavilainen har varit medförfattare till en tidsskriftsartikel om SERCs simuleringsmodell för pelletspannor och –kaminer samt varit medförfattare till två tidsskriftsartiklar tillsammans med SPF (Schweiz) och TU Graz (Österrike) om en ny pannmodell för gas, olja och pellets. Dessa två validerade modeller i programmet TRNSYS används nu rutinmässigt i Sverige av SP och SERC och i Europa av ett flertal forskargrupper. Den nya pannmodellen som utvecklades med SPF och TU Graz har också införlivats i programmet Polysun som används av flera hundra användare runt hela världen, inkl. SERCs magisterstudenter.

Provningsmetod för integrerade sol-biosystem : Årsverkningsgrad genom korttidsmätning

Test method for integrated solar- biomass systems - Long term prediction trough short term measurementsSP Technical Research Institute of Sweden and SERC, Dalarna University have in cooperation developed a test method for integrated solar and biomass systems. The test method is performed under six days including two summer days, two winter days and two spring/autumn days true to real weather conditions and loads for a single family house. The aim of the test method is to get information about a Combisystem’s annual performance and operation throughout a short term test. Seven different solar Combisystems have been tested within the project together with a pellet boiler without solar collectors. In addition to that a comparative testing has been performed at the two laboratories at SP and at SERC on the same Combisystem. The test method developed within the project has been proved to withstand the aim of the project, which is to be able to compare the performance between the systems. The test method is also suitable for identification of possible operation problems so they can be taken care of and consequently improves the system.The project and the system testing reveal that it is in general favorable to combine biomass pellets with solar heating. Pellet boilers has normally a low performance during the summer period but combined with a solar collector the boiler can be switch off during this period. There are however big differences in performance between the tested. The efficiency of the pellet boiler is highly dependent of the operating conditions and elements like heat losses from the system, system configuration and control strategy have great influence of the performance of the system and the emissions. On the other hand, the performance and the size of the solar collectors have a minor effect on the overall system performance. There is obviously a big potential for improvement of the system´s performance and the developed test method is an essential way to implement this perfection.

Elbesparing med pelletkaminer och solvärme i direktelvärmda småhus

The aim of this study was to investigate how electricallyheated houses can be converted to using wood pellet and solarheating. There are a large number of wood pellet stoves on themarket. Many stoves have a water jacket, which gives anopportunity to distribute the heat to domestic hot water and aradiator heating system. Three typical Swedish houses with electric resistanceheating have been studied. Fourteen different system conceptsusing wood pellet stoves and solar heating systems have beenevaluated. The systems and the houses have been simulated indetail using TRNSYS. The houses have been divided in up to 10different zones and heat transfer by air circulation throughdoorways and open doors have been simulated. The pellet stoveswere simulated using a recently developed TRNSYS component,which models the start- and stop phases, emissions and thedynamic behaviour of the stoves. The model also calculates theCO-emissions. Simulations were made with one stove without awater jacket and two stoves with different fractions of thegenerated heat distributed in the water circuit. Simulations show that the electricity savings using a pelletstove are greatly affected by the house plan, the systemchoice, if the internal doors are open or closed and thedesired level of comfort. Installing a stove with awater-jacket connected to a radiator system and a hot waterstorage has the advantage that heat can be transferred todomestic hot water and be distributed to other rooms. Suchsystems lead to greater electricity savings, especially inhouses having a traditional layout. It was found that not allrooms needed radiators and that it was more effective in mostcases t use a stove with a higher fraction of the heatdistributed by the water circuit. The economic investigation shows that installing a woodpellet stove without a water jacket gives the lowest totalenergy- and capital costs in the house with an open plan (fortoday's energy prices and the simulated comfort criteria). Inthe houses with a traditional layout a pellet stove givesslightly higher costs than the reference house having onlyelectrical resistance heating due to the fact that less heatingcan be replaced. The concepts including stoves with a waterjacket all give higher costs than the reference system, but theconcept closest to be economical is a system with a bufferstore, a stove with a high fraction of the heat distributed bythe water circuit, a new water radiator heating system and asolar collector. Losses from stoves can be divided into: flue gas lossesincluding leakage air flow when the stove is not in operation;losses during start and stop phases; and losses due to a highair factor. An increased efficiency of the stoves is importantboth from a private economical point of view, but also from theperspective that there can be a lack of bio fuel in the nearfuture also in Sweden. From this point of view it is alsoimportant to utilize as much solar heat as possible. Theutilization of solar heat is low in the simulated systems,depending on the lack of space for a large buffer store. The simulations have shown that the annual efficiency ismuch lower that the nominal efficiency at full power. Thesimulations have also shown that changing the control principlefor the stove can improve efficiency and reduce theCO-emissions. Today's most common control principle for stovesis the on/off control, which results in many starts and stopsand thereby high CO-emissions. A more advanced control varyingthe heating rate from maximum to minimum to keep a constantroom temperature reduces the number of starts and stops andthereby the emissions. Also the efficiency can be higher withsuch a control, and the room temperature will be kept at a moreconstant temperature providing a higher comfort.

Småskalig rökgasrening : metoder för att minska utsläppen från småskalig biobränsleeldning

Emissioner (utsläpp) från biobränsleeldning och därtill hörande hälsorisker har varit föremål för stora forskningssatsningar. Detta arbete avser att sammanställa olika åtgärder som kan vidtas inom småskalig biobränsleeldning för att ytterligare minska utsläppen. Arbetet bygger på en litteraturstudie där databaser och Internet har genomsökts efter litteratur och publikatio-ner, som redovisar olika tekniker för utsläppsminskningar. Undersökningen ska ge en över-blick över olika tekniker för emissionsminskning och dessutom försöka kvantifiera minsk-ningspotentialen med respektive teknik.Genomgången visar på en rad olika möjligheter för att minska emissionerna. Det innefattar primära åtgärder som optimal eldstadsutformning och att elda rätt. Stora minskningar kan också göras genom att styra lufttillförseln på ett bra sätt, till exempel genom stegad lufttillför-sel och användning av gassensorer. Mer avancerad teknik för att styra start och stopp samt eventuell effektreglering av brännare kan också minska emissionerna. Solvärme minskar emissionerna under sommarhalvåret genom att ersätta låglastdriften, som har högst emissioner per producerad kWh. Gemensamt för ovanstående åtgärder är, att de också ökar systemens verkningsgrad och därmed finns ett ekonomiskt motiv till att genomföra åtgärderna.Tekniker för aktiv rening, som elektrostatiska filter och katalysatorer, har svårare att komma ut på marknaden, då de inte ger några ekonomiska vinster för brukaren. Här krävs i så fall att myndighetskraven skärps.För att minska emissionerna från småskalig eldning ur ett nationellt perspektiv är det främst från den småskaliga vedeldningen som emissionerna måste minskas. Här kan man snabbast nå minskningar genom utbildning av dem som eldar med ved samt genom att införa ackumula-tortankar. Emissioner från lokaleldstäder blir svårast att minska då det fortfarande installeras icke miljögodkänd utrustning och då livslängden för dessa eldstäder är mycket lång.

Emissions from realistic operation of residential wood pellets heating systems

Emissions from residential combustion appliances vary significantly depending on the firing behaviours and combustion conditions, in addition to combustion technologies and fuel quality. Although wood pellet combustion in residential heating boilers is efficient, the combustion conditions during start-up and stop phases are not optimal and produce significantly high emissions such as carbon monoxide and hydrocarbon from incomplete combustion. The emissions from the start-up and stop phases of the pellet boilers are not fully taken into account in test methods for ecolabels which primarily focus on emissions during operation on full load and part load. The objective of the thesis is to investigate the emission characteristics during realistic operation of residential wood pellet boilers in order to identify when the major part of the annual emissions occur. Emissions from four residential wood pellet boilers were measured and characterized for three operating phases (start-up, steady and stop). Emissions from realistic operation of combined solar and wood pellet heating systems was continuously measured to investigate the influence of start-up and stop phases on total annual emissions. Measured emission data from the pellet devices were used to build an emission model to predict the annual emission factors from the dynamic operation of the heating system using the simulation software TRNSYS. Start-up emissions are found to vary with ignition type, supply of air and fuel, and time to complete the phase. Stop emissions are influenced by fan operation characteristics and the cleaning routine. Start-up and stop phases under realistic operation conditions contribute 80 – 95% of annual carbon monoxide (CO) emission, 60 – 90% total hydrocarbon (TOC), 10 – 20% of nitrogen oxides (NO), and 30 – 40% particles emissions. Annual emission factors from realistic operation of tested residential heating system with a top fed wood pelt boiler can be between 190 and 400 mg/MJ for the CO emissions, between 60 and 95 mg/MJ for the NO, between 6 and 25 mg/MJ for the TOC, between 30 and 116 mg/MJ for the particulate matter and between 2x10-13 /MJ and 4x10-13 /MJ for the number of particles. If the boiler has the cleaning sequence with compressed air such as in boiler B2, annual CO emission factor can be up to 550 mg/MJ. Average CO, TOC and particles emissions under realistic annual condition were greater than the limits values of two eco labels. These results highlight the importance of start-up and stop phases in annual emission factors (especially CO and TOC). Since a large or dominating part of the annual emissions in real operation arise from the start-up and stop sequences, test methods required by the ecolabels should take these emissions into account. In this way it will encourage the boiler manufacturers to minimize annual emissions. The annual emissions of residential pellet heating system can be reduced by optimizing the number of start-ups of the pellet boiler. It is possible to reduce up to 85% of the number of start-ups by optimizing the system design and its controller such as switching of the boiler pump after it stops, using two temperature sensors for boiler ON/OFF control, optimizing of the positions of the connections to the storage tank, increasing the mixing valve temperature in the boiler circuit and decreasing the pump flow rate. For 85 % reduction of start-ups, 75 % of CO and TOC emission factors were reduced while 13% increase in NO and 15 % increase in particle emissions was observed.

Eldningsresultat för pellets med tillsats av magnesium

Vid förbränning av biobränslen såsom träpellets bildas partiklar som orsakar avsättningar på ytor i pannans konvektionsparti. Det som leder till försämrad effektivitet och kräver sotning. Dessutom sker utsläpp av partiklar till uteluften som kan ge hälsoeffekter. Vid förbränning kan alkalimetaller, som till exempel kalium, frigöras från bränslet och de kan bilda klibbiga avsättningar tillsammans med klor, svavel eller kisel, som i sin tur samlar in mer partiklar och det bygger på avsättningar i konvektionspartiet. Det förväntas att magnesi-um reagerar (huvudsakligen med klor, svavel och kisel) så att sammansättningar med högre smältpunkter erhålls, vilket kan minska avsättningar i konvektionspartiet. Karlstads Universitet har producerat tre olika typer av träpellets; en referenspellet utan tillsat-ser, en pellet med magnesiumoxid (MgO) och en pellet med magnesiumhydroxid (Mg(OH)2). Kortare eldningsprov med de olika bränslena har genomförts i en 20 kW pelletspanna och uppkomna avsättningar i konvektionspartiet och emissioner har registreras. Avsättningarna i konvektionspartiet kvantifierades med en gravimetrisk metod och analyserades med SEM, vilket gör det möjligt att se vilka grundämnen som förekommer i avsättningarna. Gasformiga emissioner som CO, NO och TOC registrerades liksom partikelutsläpp. Motsvarande försök gjordes också med en kommersiellt tillverkad pellet. Tillsats av MgO och Mg(OH)2 ökade mängden flygaska och partikelutsläpp (PM 2,5). Massan av fasta beläggningar i konvektionspartiet ökade också jämfört med referenspellets utan dessa tillsatser. Dessutom bildades stora mängder flygaska i fallen med magnesiumtillsats. Att tillsatserna bildade flygaska kan förklaras av den normalt mycket låga askhalten i träpel-lets och därmed är också halten av alkalimetaller låg jämfört med pellets som tillverkas av spannmål. Magnesiumtillsatsen syftar till att reagera med alkalimetaller och bilda föreningar med så hög smältpunkt att de inte fastnar i pannans konvektionsparti. Troligen är magnesium-tillsatsen för hög jämfört med mängden alkali i pelletsen. Från SEM-analysen kan man se att mängden kalium minskar med magnesiumtillsatserna och det verkar som att principen fungerar. Dock hamnade stora mängder flygaska med hög andel magnesium i konvektionspartiet (lös flygaska har avlägsnats före den gravimetriska mätning-en och före SEM-analysen av substraten). Detta kan ha förhindrat substraten från att få högre andel fasta avsättningar från bland annat kalium och klor under denna korta mätperiod som genomfördes. Det kan dock inte uteslutas att de minskade avsättningarna av kalium och klor berodde på just tillsatsen av magnesium.