Progress 09/01/15 to 08/31/16
Outputs
Target Audience:During this reporting period, the company continued to educate consumers, installation technicians and other key influencers on the merits of proper wood burning and advanced small-scale biomass combustion appliances/platforms. Specifically, the following audiences were reached by the company during this period. A regional technical training program was implemented that would educate installation technicians on the installation and maintenance of the appliance. Periodic webinars were conducted with prospective consumer customers to inform, educate and gain feedback on the commercial viability of the appliance. Several events, including the annual Bioenergy Day, were used to bring a broad group of stakeholders, including legislators, regulators, installers, and consumers to educate and inform about the merits of the technology and the appliance category. Representative customers from the rural, small town and farm communities were contacted and screened for participation in the research program. Changes/Problems:There were two situations that have impacted the project -- a contractual delay and unforseen programming complexity. These required higher participation from the principal investigators earlier in the project. The overall project budget and timeline remain unaffected, however the allocation/distribution of resources has been adjusted slightly to address these circumstances. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?
Nothing Reported
How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?As noted in another section, the company has been able to showcase the SBIR Technology through live demonstrations (either in the lab or in a demonstration trailer) to rural consumers, installation technicians and local and international politicians. Some of these efforts have included: A regional technical training program was implemented that would educate installation technicians on the installation and maintenance of the appliance. Periodic webinars were conducted with prospective consumer customers to inform, educate and gain feedback on the commercial viability of the appliance with homeowners and farmer operators. Several events, including the annual Bioenergy Day, were used to bring a broad group of stakeholders, including legislators, regulators, installers, and rural consumers to educate and inform about the merits of the technology and the appliance category. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?The company will continue with the workplan presented in the application. These steps include field test monitoring and data collection, comparative algorithm testing, data and user log analyses, and laboratory verification testing as required.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
This project continues the work that began in the Phase 1 program where the SBIR Technology reduced particulate matter by 75 percent through manual operation. The Phase 2 research program was to automate these lab controls and incorporate them in appliances outside of a laboratory setting, exposing them to a broad spectrum of unknown conditions and variables -- i.e. operating conditions, fuel quality, demand situation(s), and installation. This was to enable the research team to more fully evaluate the technical viability, the impact on cost and maintenance of the appliance, and propose improvements to the technology based on its true operating environment. The following are the major accomplishments to date: Objective 1 - Gross Efficiency Gains: The SBIR Technology algorithm was programmed, bench-tested and operated autonomously in the Greenwood Development and Innovation Center laboratory. The technology met all Phase 1 performance thresholds under the laboratory controlled conditions. This algorithm has been deployed to a variety of field test sites where the appliances are being remotely monitored as the heating season begins. Objective 2 - Real World Burn Profiles: While in the laboratory, fuel quality (e.g. fuel moisture) and fuel size (e.g. crib, small split, large log rounds) were examined in an attempt identify characteristic burn profiles. Conditions were identified which enabled the identification and coding of variables/states which enabled further tuning of the SBIR Technology. Objective 3 - Real World Support. Nothing to report. Objective 4 - Educational Support. Initial findings indicate there is an opportunity to use gross boiler conditions, fuel quality/type and environmental conditions to educate the consumer operator on how to best manage the boiler to optimize performance. These will be further documented as field trials continue.
Publications
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