Glenn, that flue gas analyzer only has three distinct sensors for three substances. That's good, in general, for testing for dangerous situations, but for really making the case for benefits of RMH, a more in-depth analysis of what ALL the stuff there in the sample going up the stovepipe (or left behind in the ash pit) just can't be beat. I suspect y'all will be happy you tried this. A GC/MS (Gas Chromatograph/Mass Spectrometer) will give a detailed analysis of essentially ALL the substances (molecules) in the sample, it's shown as a graph plotting molecular weight against amount of the substance detected, so it shows a ragged line with a bunch of "peaks" for each and every molecular weight in the range selected for analysis. The peak tells the chemist how much of the substance(s) of that molecular weight were present in the sample. It gives a whole lot more info about exactly what's in the sample.
This is the perfect size project for an undergraduate student to run as part of a practical advanced analytic chemistry lab (usually an independent study or senior project that runs for an academic quarter or semester) under faculty supervision. Seriously, my old profs would have thanked you for bringing this kind of practical problem to them. Only costs the owner of the RMH a little time and attention when the Prof and student(s) come to get info on the problem and to collect samples (ash, flue gases, and maybe some of the wood going in). Good chance to give 'em a very short earbug about permaculture and why RMH matters vs. traditional combustion heating systems. Prof may have some other (better?) tests on which I'm not up-to-date. (My chem ed was just a BS and many decades ago, so I'm just going on memory of actually running the instruments of that time in school labs and at work in hospital laboratory. I switched to a WHOLE 'nother line of work shortly after completing that degree. Long story.....) -jimh.
