1 INTRODUCTION
While humans have been using fire for many thousands of years, we have only recently in our history recognized the benefit of removing smoke from the home. There is little documentation on the history of chimneys and their function in the home. In western civilization there is record of chimneys being destroyed by an earthquake in 1347 (Butler, n.d.). Most homes had a centrally located hearth that was used for heat and cooking, which had a vent directly above it; While this did help smoke escape from the home, it wasn’t a chimney. Notice in Figure 1 that the top of the hearth is black from soot that constantly escapes into the room rather than being properly drafted up through the “chimney.” Figure 1: Medieval Hearth
It wasn’t until the 1700’s that the chimney was considered a device worthy of improvement; Benjamin Franklin published “Observations on the Causes and Cure of Smoky Chimneys.” Franklin was responsible for the Pennsylvanian Fireplace and the Franklin Stove, two chimney stoves that were well adopted before the American Revolution. At this point in history caloric theory reigned as the dominant understanding of heat transfer. Caloric theory suggests that heat is a …show more content…
The majority of these deaths occur in the developing world, where solid biomass is used for cooking and heating. The range of health effects is substantial with the most deaths attributed to ischemic heart disease (IHD), chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), and stroke (Figure 3) (WHO, 2014). These health effects are a result of fine particles (less than 2.5 μm in aerodynamic diameter) being deposited deep in the lungs. These smaller particles deposit deep in the lungs because they stay entrained in the airflow and then settle in the alveolar region of the lungs (Hinds,
While humans have been using fire for many thousands of years, we have only recently in our history recognized the benefit of removing smoke from the home. There is little documentation on the history of chimneys and their function in the home. In western civilization there is record of chimneys being destroyed by an earthquake in 1347 (Butler, n.d.). Most homes had a centrally located hearth that was used for heat and cooking, which had a vent directly above it; While this did help smoke escape from the home, it wasn’t a chimney. Notice in Figure 1 that the top of the hearth is black from soot that constantly escapes into the room rather than being properly drafted up through the “chimney.” Figure 1: Medieval Hearth
It wasn’t until the 1700’s that the chimney was considered a device worthy of improvement; Benjamin Franklin published “Observations on the Causes and Cure of Smoky Chimneys.” Franklin was responsible for the Pennsylvanian Fireplace and the Franklin Stove, two chimney stoves that were well adopted before the American Revolution. At this point in history caloric theory reigned as the dominant understanding of heat transfer. Caloric theory suggests that heat is a …show more content…
The majority of these deaths occur in the developing world, where solid biomass is used for cooking and heating. The range of health effects is substantial with the most deaths attributed to ischemic heart disease (IHD), chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), and stroke (Figure 3) (WHO, 2014). These health effects are a result of fine particles (less than 2.5 μm in aerodynamic diameter) being deposited deep in the lungs. These smaller particles deposit deep in the lungs because they stay entrained in the airflow and then settle in the alveolar region of the lungs (Hinds,