Performance on a novel-designed dual-fuel advanced cookstove.

Abstract

About 30 % of the global population relies on solid fuels such as biomass and coal to carry out cooking. These comprise people primarily residing in developing countries with low incomes. To address the challenge of household air pollution and thermal efficiency during cooking in solid-fuel-based cooking, an advanced cookstove was developed in this study. The advanced cookstove was designed for simultaneous combustion and pyrolysis to perform cooking and generate biochar. In this study, laboratory testing was carried out in the advanced cookstove prototype. A water boiling test (WBT) and ISO 19867-1:2018 test were conducted to determine the thermal efficiency of the cookstove. The input energy for combustion was provided by introducing solid fuel and volatile gases produced from the pyrolysis reaction, hence improving overall thermal efficiency. Biochar was produced simultaneously in the pyrolysis chamber during the fuel combustion of the cookstove. The performance analysis found that the thermal efficiencies when using biomass and biochar as fuel were in the range of 22-30 % and 24-30 % in WBT, 30-36 % and 36-40 % during the ISO test, respectively. The biochar produced in the first run was used as input fuel in the second run for combustion. Temperature achieved in combustion and pyrolysis chambers was observed to be sufficient for converting biomass to biochar. Emission test from the study found that PM2.5 and CO emissions fell in the category of tier 4 and 5 respectively. The study found that utilizing volatile gases from the pyrolysis for heat recovery contributed to achieving higher efficiency in the cookstove.