U.S. Department of Energy Selects Six Projects to Advance Wood Heater Innovation Collaboration To Reduce Wood Heater Pollution

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

U.S. Department of Energy Selects Six Projects to Advance Wood Heater Innovation Collaboration To Reduce Wood Heater Pollution

One World Resource Management LLC (OWRM) has been selected in cooperation with OekoSolve (AG) and Brookhaven National Laboratory (US) to participate in a CRADA (Cooperative Research and Development Agreement) project proposal sponsored by the US Department of Energy; Bioenergy Technology Office (BETO).

The project titled “Researching US Market Viability and controlling Particulate Emissions from Residential Biomass Heaters with ESP’s will focus on addressing particulate emissions associated with residential wood heaters (RWHs) and will study the integration of electrostatic precipitators (ESPs) as retrofit particulate control devices. ESPs have demonstrated high efficiency in removing fine particulate matter, especially in the PM2.5 size range, across various RWHs. The team will test and analyze the ESP's effectiveness with the goal of developing a body of work to give early adopters confidence in the efficacy of the ESP technology on appliances available in the US market. The results of this project could also lead to a national emission testing protocol for ESPs, which could be recognized by EPA and applied to all testing institutes in the US. There is strong justification that this technology, as well as these scientific tests in a controlled environment, will advance or even accelerate commercial readiness of the technology on wood heaters with the result of drastically reducing air emission caused by domestic wood burners as well as industrial biomass boilers.

In addition to studying particulate emissions the project will also look at fire and electrical safety considerations to allow for the successful implementation of ESP’s, into the into US market.

The results of the CRADA were announced at the annual Hearth, Patio, and Barbeque Expo on February 14^th.  The project is scheduled to occur over the next 18 months.

Official USDOE Release

The U.S. Department of Energy Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO) announced at the Hearth, Patio & Barbecue Expo in Nashville, Tennessee, up to $2 million in Phase 1 funding for six projects to accelerate wood heater innovation and develop the next generation of efficient and clean wood heaters. Funded by BETO and administered by Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL) and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), the Wood Heater Innovation Collaboration (WHIC) will oversee the FY23 Wood Heater Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA), and leverage their unique expertise to work with award recipients to develop and validate innovative wood heater technologies.

According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, millions of U.S. households use wood heater technology for home heat, and it remains a vital way to affordably heat homes with a low-carbon renewable fuel. To ensure that wood heating continues as a renewable energy option, this CRADA funding will help the wood heater industry accelerate the modernization of wood heating stoves to be cleaner, more efficient and have the potential to reduce the national costs associated with thermal energy.

The following projects were selected:

• Hearth, Patio & Barbecue Association will work with LBNL to evaluate the performance of particulate matter sensor technologies to cost effectively quantify emissions from wood heaters in the lab and in-situ.
• Hearth, Patio & Barbecue Association will also work with LBNL to develop a wood stove draft prediction tool to guide manufacturers and installers on wood heater or chimney parameters.
• ISB Marketing Inc., in conjunction with Stove Builder International, will work with BNL on a thermal storage solution for wood stoves providing constant heat output in an ideal thermal range.
• Northeast States for Coordinated Air Use Management (NESCAUM) will work with BNL to develop and verify a portable flue gas sampling dilution for use in the field to assess wood heater emissions.
• One World Resource Management, in conjunction with OekoSolve, will work with BNL to demonstrate the efficiency and market readiness of an electrostatic precipitator retrofit technology to reduce wood heater emissions.
• Smokeless Chimney will work with LBNL to optimize and validate an opacity emissions sensor to inform a wood stove air supply controller.

Learn more about these selected projects.

The WHIC is a BETO-funded consortium of National Laboratories (BNL and LBNL) dedicated to accelerating clean wood heater technologies to improve air quality and support energy justice. The goal of WHIC is to enable U.S. wood heater manufacturers and researchers to leverage WHIC partner laboratory capabilities to advance or accelerate commercial readiness of their technologies.