In the tests done they passed the class a fire rating test for insulation as they are. This is strange, I looked up the rice hull stoves and they seem to contradict these tests results. I read about a rice hull furnace and it was obviously built t ignite material that resist it. I guess I will have to do my own test but these test were supposedly done at a professional facility in Tennessee. Maybe there use as a heating fuel is more feasible than I thought. I hope these tests are accurate.
- ASTM Testing
- Recent ASTM testing conducted R&D Services
- of Cookville, Tennessee, have conclusively
- demonstrated that rice hulls, in their raw and
- unprocessed state, without the addition of any
- chemicals, constitute a Class A or Class I
- insulation material. Let us briefly review these
- Design Density Test
- The first test conducted by R&D Services
was a Design Density Test. The initial densities- Critical Radiant Flux Test
- Critical Radiant Flux Test
Three samples were tested according to testmethod ASTM E 970. The average CRF was0.29 W/cm2, the standard deviation was 0.015,and the coefficient of variation was 0.05. Allthree samples easily passed this test.of the rice hulls were 7.729 and 7.488 lb/ft3.After 24 hours of vibration, these two samples
- Surface Burning Characteristics
- The ASTM E84 Standard Test for Surface
- Burning Characteristics of Building Materials
- (ANSI 2.5, NFPA 255, UBC 8-1, UL 723)
- was conducted by Omega Point Laboratories of
- Elmendorf, Texas. The results here were
- amazing. US building codes require a Fire
- Smoke Development Index
- was 10. US building codes require a Smoke
- Development Index of 450 or less. The SDI for
- rice hulls was 50. Rice hulls, therefore, are
- a Class A or Class I insulation material. The
- United States produces over 1.2 M metric tons
- of rice hulls annually, and often times, they
- Smoldering Combustion Test
- Three sample were tested according to test
- method ASTM C 739, Section 14.
- Sample 1 showed a weight loss of 0.07%,
- Sample 2 showed a weight loss of 0.03%,
- Sample 3 showed a weight loss of 0.03%.
- Thermal Resistance
- The rice hulls were tested according to test
- method ASTM C 518.
- Length of TimeR-per-inch
120.0 hours3.024
90.3 hours2.926
92.0 hours2.946
?
Rice hull stoves are very popular in some countries. The pictures I've seen look like they burn very well.
http://www.repp.org/discussiongroups/resources/stoves/IRRI/Lotrau/Lotrau.html
http://www.reap-canada.com/bio_and_climate_3_3_1.htm
Why do you say they almost won't burn?
Spaceman
Forrest Charnock wrote:
The rice hulls sound like the way to go as meeting code is easy and they almost won't burn.
