Performance Evaluation of Improved Biomass Cookstove for Rural Development

Abstract

Rural development is a key factor to define any nation’s economic growth. In a developing country like India, 68.86% of the population is living in the countryside. In some areas, people are still using three brick Traditional Cookstove (TCS) for cooking and other heating applications due to the unavailability of power grid connection and natural gas. This direct burning of the biomass method is very old and simple; however, it is not preferable due to lower thermal efficiency and harmful effects on the environment and human health. In the present study, experiments were carried out on 3.5 KW Improved Cookstove (ICS) and some attachments such as heat box and swirl. This natural draft ICS is based on the gasification principle. The unutilized heated gas is passed through the heat box that dries the biomass. Swirl mechanism improves the flame utilization by concentrating it directly on the pot. Wood and Corn waste were selected as feedstock. Experiments were performed in four sets. In the first set, a comparative study was performed between TCS and ICS. In the second set, experiments were carried out with differentratios (0,20,40; wt%) of corn waste and wood (C/W). In the third set, comparative studies were performed with ICS, ICS without heat box ICS with swirl mechanism. In the fourth set, comparative studies were carried out on the TCS and ICS with different percentages (0%, 5%, 6%, 7%, 8%, and 9%) of the MgCO3 catalyst to wood ratio. Biomass cookstove performance was evaluated based on thermal efficiency, burning rate, Specific Fuel Consumption (SFC), useful firepower, Particulate Matter (PM), and emissions. Thermal efficiency and Firepower increased by 57% and 23.26%, respectivelywith ICS as compared to TCS. Burning rate, PM, and SFC decreased by 44.66%, 67.90%, and 57.46%, respectively with ICS. It is observed that emission by ICS is better compared to TCS. Burning rate and thermal efficiency were found higher (12.5%) and lower (7.45%), respectively when corn waste was added to wood (40% C/W) as feedstock. It was observed that thermal efficiency and useful firepower increased by 3.58% and 3.9%, respectively by attaching a swirltothe ICS. The maximum efficiency (41.82%) wasfound in the ICS with woodand 7% catalyst compared to other selected catalyst to wood ratios. Particulate matter of the ICS with a 7% catalyst to wood ratio was found 77.12% and 36.76% less than the TCS and ICS with no catalyst. The useful firepower of the TCS reduced by 58.41% than the ICS. The emission of gases from the ICS with catalyst was observed less comparedto TCS and ICS with nocatalyst. The useof heat box, swirl, and catalyst improvise the cookstove performance are the major conclusion from the present study.