Letter from Julia to family March 24, 1943

In this letter Julia talks about fixing the fireplace and how it nearly burned the house dow

Chimneys and Fireplaces

Discusses chimney and fireplace design with an emphasis on safety and reducing hazards

New materials for fireplace logs

Fibrous insulation and refractory concrete are used for logs as well as fireproof walls, incinerator bricks, planters, and roof shingles. Insulation is lighter and more shock resistant than fireclay. Lightweight slag bonded with refractory concrete serves as aggregrate

Mutagenicity assessment of aerosols in emissions from wood combustion

Mestrado em Estudos AmbientaisPolycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) extracts of PM2.5 collected from combustion of seven wood species and briquettes were tested for mutagenic activities using Ames test with Salmonella typhimurium TA98 and TA100. The woods werePinuspinaster (maritime pine), Eucalyptus globulus (eucalypt), Quercussuber (cork oak), Acacia longifolia (golden wattle), Quercusfaginea (Portuguese oak), Oleaeuropea (olive), and Quercus ilex rotundifolia (Holm oak). Burning experiments were done using woodstove and fireplace, hot start and cold start. A mutagenic/weak mutagenic response was recorded for all species except golden wattle. The extracts with indirect acting mutagenicity were mainly obtained from fireplace and cold start conditions. The strong mutagenic extracts were not correlated with high emission factors of carcinogenic PAHs. Several samples were weak mutagens at low concentration of PAHs. The negative result recorded for the golden wattle extracts is positive since after confirmation, this species can be recommended for domestic use.(FCT) - PTDC/AMB/65706/2006 (BIOEMI

Thermal performance in a conventional fireplace and in an inset appliance

The objective of this study is to compare the performance of the equipment currently employed in the domestic heating with firewood, the conventional fireplace and the inset appliance with close firedoors. For such, it was followed the European Standard EN13229:2001/A2:2004. Efficiency and heat output is determined and the major heat losses that penalize the appliance performance are identified and calculated. Tests in laboratory were developed in two inset appliances, and tests in situ in one conventional fireplace. One of the appliances uses only staging as primary air, and the other only grate air In inset appliances, with a heat output near 10 kW, the average efficiency varies between 67% and 73%, while in a conventional fireplace that value lies at 30%. In all these devices the major losses take place as sensible heat in the flue gases, 23% to 30 % in inset appliances and above 50% in a conventional fireplace. The second most important heat loss happens by chemical losses in the flue gases. It takes values near 17% in a conventional fireplace and may be disregarded in an inset appliance

Stoves

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Does Cooking Technology Matter? Fuelwood Use and Efficiency of Different Cooking Technologies in Lilongwe District, Malawi

Biomass, mainly firewood and charcoal contributes over 90% of Malawi’s total energy demand. As a result, deforestation is increasing at unprecedented rate and firewood is becoming scarce. Individual assessment of various cooking technologies has been widely done without comparison of various cooking technologies. Therefore, this study has been devoted to compare the performance, cooking time and fuelwood usage of the three-stone fireplace, Rocket and Chitetezo cooking technologies. The study used Specific Fuel consumption (SC) as a proxy for principal indicator of cooking technology efficiency. It measures the amount of wood used per kg of food. Rocket stove has been found to use less time, less fuelwood and produces less smoke.Cooking Technology, Fuelwood, Stove Efficiency

Of Hearths and Houses

During the 1993 East Texas Archeological Field School conducted at the Tyson site (41SY92) in western Shelby County, the junior author had an opportunity to participate in the excavation of a Caddoan hearth. The work was directed by Linda Lindsay, a graduate student in Anthropology at Southern Methodist University. This paper describes our findings and a few features of hearths and houses. One goal of the 1993 Field School was to explore the area around Feature 3 looking for evidence of a house. This was accomplished by opening a 6 meter by 6 meter unit referred to as Block 1. Feature 3 had been excavated in 1992 and found to be a 1.2 meter in diameter, round, basin shaped pit containing a large amount of daub, bone, and Caddoan pottery sherds. Near the bottom of the pit was a zone of ash. Charcoal and mussel shell from Feature 3 yielded three calibrated radiocarbon dates of about 1425 AD. When Block I was completely exposed, a number of other pits and postholes were seen in plan view. Our activity focused on Feature 9 on the western edge of Block 1. This 1.1 5 meter by O. 9 meter oval hearth was first revealed at 20 cm depth when ash was encountered. The feature contained large amounts of ash from in situ burning, nuggets of fired clay, a small amount of bone, and several burned sherds with ash adhering to their surfaces. The hearth was slightly basin-shaped and approximately 15 cm thick. A discontinuous thin layer of bright orange clay near its bottom was observed. The hearth had been prepared for use by digging a very shallow pit but no intentional clay lining was seen. Two large postholes were found in the area of Feature 9. Feature 17 was discovered beneath the eastern end of the hearth. It was 30 cm in diameter and had a smoothly rounded bottom at 75 cm below ground surface. Feature 12 was a very distinct posthole of similar proportions just west of the hearth. The diameter of F 12 was 27 cm and the depth was 65 cm below surface. How do we understand this feature? Specifically, does Feature 9 represent the central hearth of a Caddoan house? This question is currently difficult to answer because the outside wall of a putative house has not been identified. Possibly, Block l lies entirely inside a large house. The question may be easier to answer after reviewing accounts written by early Europeans visiting the area and reviewing the archeological findings at other East Texas Caddoan sites