I've experienced a small, potential success.
I searched for data yesterday on various kinds of wood to see which
would put out the most heat in the woodburning stove in the basement of
our new house. I came across a number of pages published by government
and by private concerns. In one case
http://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/wood-combustion-heat-d_372.html
I emailed the following comment, encouraging them to provide information
in metric units, and I've just received this reply in the affirmative.
I suspect that once the data is provided indicating the specific heat
value of wood (in kJ/kg) it will be seen that there is not much
variation between, say, oak and pine. Most of the variation seen in
existing tables (usually given as Btu/cord) is due to the variation in
the density of the various types of wood. Moisture of course plays a
large part in this, too, so variations in the heat value for one type of
wood at various "moisture content" levels reflect the mass of the
contained water.
As you can see, I also commented on the inanity of using a cord as a
unit of measurement, especially for tables that boldly provide
four-digit precision in their published values.
The Forestry Service (USDA) is hopelessly non-metric, I fear. I saw no
way to comment on their table. My comment probably would have fallen on
deaf ears anyway. But this private concern was responsive.
Jim
-------- Original Message --------
Subject: Re:
http://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/wood-combustion-heat-d_372.html : Wood
and Combustion Heat Values
Date: Mon, 25 Jan 2010 05:31:17 -0800 (PST)
From: Tom .....
To: James R. Frysinger <j...@metricmethods.com>
Thanks for your feedback,
we will do our best!
Regards,
Tom
--- On *Sun, 1/24/10, James R. Frysinger /<j...@metricmethods.com>/* wrote:
From: James R. Frysinger <j...@metricmethods.com>
Subject:
http://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/wood-combustion-heat-d_372.html :
Wood and Combustion Heat Values
To: .....
Date: Sunday, January 24, 2010, 5:32 PM
While I appreciate the inclusion of conversion factors at the bottom
of the table, I feel it would be much more convenient if you
provided a metric table. This would be in terms of kilograms, cubic
meters, and kilojoules. Otherwise your metric readers have to do all
those conversions on their own.
Further, since the volume of a stack of firewood varies considerably
based on whether or not it is split and how it is stacked, it might
make sense to include a column showing on the heat value of a
kilogram or a thousand kilograms (metric ton, or tonne). In either
case, moisture content also plays a role and you don't state a
value. Thus, your four-digit values overly express a precision that
is not to be had.
James R. Frysinger
Chair, IEEE SCC 14
-- James R. Frysinger
632 Stony Point Mountain Road
Doyle, TN 38559-3030
(C) 931.212.0267
(H) 931.657.3107
(F) 931.657.3108
--
James R. Frysinger
632 Stony Point Mountain Road
Doyle, TN 38559-3030
(C) 931.212.0267
(H) 931.657.3107
(F) 931.657.3108
