Performance Characteristics of a Cooking Stove Improved with Sawdust as an Insulation Material
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Date
2021
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Journal of Renewable Energy
Abstract
In developing countries, energy demand from biomass has increased due to exponential population growth. (is has translated
into voluminous quantities of wood being used. (e situation is exacerbated by the popular use of inefficient stoves with low
thermal insulation, hence contributing to deforestation. In this study, the performance of a cooking stove improved with sawdust
as an insulation material was assessed. An insulated fire stove prototype of 26 cm saucepan diameter was designed, constructed,
and cast with sawdust and clay in a ratio of 1 :1 (as the first layer) and sawdust alone as the second layer. (e developed stove was
tested using a water boiling test to establish its operating performance. (e thermal efficiency of the stove was assessed using
indigenous wood fuels used in rural Uganda (Senna spectabilis, Pinus caribaea, and Eucalyptus grandis). Computational fluid
dynamics was used to simulate the temperature and velocity fields within the combustion chamber and for generating temperature
contours of the stove. Obtained results indicated that S. spectabilis had the highest thermal efficiency of 35.5 ± 2.5%, followed by
E. grandis (25.7 ± 1.7%) and lastly P. caribaea (19.0 ± 1.2%) in the cold start phase when compared with traditional stoves. (e
stove remained cold as hot air was restricted to the combustion chamber with decreasing temperature contours toward the outer
wall up to the ambient temperature. (e velocity flow remained constant as the chamber was colored green throughout due to the
shielding of the stove with sawdust as insulation. (e heat flux generated indicated that a thick layer of 6 cm or more could ensure
good insulation, and this could be further reduced by introducing more sawdust. (e designed stove has the potential to reduce
biomass consumption and emissions when compared to traditional cookstoves. (e inclusion of a chimney draught in the fire
stove prototype could reduce smoke and increase thermal efficiency. Further studies should focus on minimizing the thickness of
the clay-sawdust (first) layer and increasing the thickness of the sawdust layer to reduce the weight of the fire stove.
Description
Keywords
Performance Characteristics, Cooking Stove, Sawdust, Insulation Material
Citation
Okino, J., Komakech, A. J., Wanyama, J., Ssegane, H., Olomo, E., & Omara, T. (2021). Performance characteristics of a cooking stove improved with sawdust as an insulation material. Journal of Renewable Energy, 2021. https://doi.org/10.1155/2021/9969806