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The waterside hot water hay pellet furnace is technology that was developed to convert grass and hay into energy that can used in home heating, also known as grass pellet heating.〔Jones, H. (2008, Aug 21). NS farmer has an answer to energy and greenhouse gas problems. Farm Focus of Atlantic Canada. Retrieved from http://www.atlanticfarmfocus.ca/NB-NL-NS-PEI/2008-08-21/article-1054532/NS-farmer-has-an-answer-to-energy-and-greenhouse-gas-problems/1〕 The waterside hot water hay pellet furnace was invented by Gus Swanson a farmer from Pictou County, Nova Scotia.〔CBC (2011, Sept 13). Farmers learn about converting grass into fuel. CBC News. Retrieved from http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/story/2011/09/13/ns-grass-pellets-heat.html〕 Swanson came up with the idea after search for an affordable alternative to home heating through oil after the price of oil began to increase.〔 Swanson and two of his partners, Philip Landry and Jim Trussler, founded the company LST Energy Inc. as a way to grow and build their hay pellet furnace technology.〔Kelly, S. (2010, Jan 28). Pictou County Company wins a $100,000 Prize. Farm Focus of Atlantic Canada. Retrieved from http://www.atlanticfarmfocus.ca/NBNLNSPEI/2010-01-28/article-1055307/Pictou-County-company-wins-100000-prize/1〕 ==Development and method of operation== The waterside hot water hay pellet furnace converts hay pellets into energy by burning them in a furnace, wood stove, or pellet stove.〔 The hay pellets are made from dried field hay (grass) that is harvested at the end of season and then pressed into pellets.〔Goodwin, S. (2008, Sept 2). Farmer says he’s found a way to create heat from hay. The Advocate. Retrieved from http://www.pictouadvocate.com/2008/09/02/farmer-says-he%E2%80%99s-found-a-way-to-create-heat-from-hay/〕 Swanson developed a furnace with a local Pictou furnace maker, a Cape Breton company that makes pellet machines, and scientists at the Nova Scotia Agricultural College.〔 While developing the furnace Swanson and his team had problems related to the building up of glass that was produced when the hay was burning in the furnace. This is because hay contains sand and potassium chloride, sometimes referred to as clinkers,〔 and its ashes are heavy. Therefore, when the hay is burning in the furnace the sand turns into glass that can be up to an inch thick and this was causing problems because the glass would build up enough that it was putting the fire out(which was the energy created by the burning of the hay). Thus, Swanson and his team had to find a way to break the newly formed glass back into sand. It took 10 different prototype burning pots before one was created that had an ash breaker that would work.〔 The temperature in the water chamber of the furnace can reach the boiling point within seven minutes and at that rate the furnace can burn off the majority of the ash and leave little waste.〔 Once development was complete on the furnace the final working prototype of the Waterside Hay Hot Water Pellet Furnace was 45 inches tall and around a foot in diameter. It can burn 50 – 125 pounds of pellets a day and releases 30,000 – 190,000 BTU's (British thermal units) an hour.〔 It is estimated that it will take 8,100 square metres of grass to heat an average Canadian home per year.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Waterside hot water hay pellet furnace」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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