No abstract

The new developments in cookstove design have been made for better usage of sustainable energy and reducing the worse impact of climate change on environment. A cookstove is a combustion device which liberates lot of heat energy during cooking. In the recent developed design of TEG integrated forced draft biomass cookstove, the liberated waste heat energy is utilized for generation of electricity with the help of a thermoelectric generator. A power of 5W is achieved through the thermoelectric generator. The generated electricity is stored in a Li-ion battery and used further for running a 12Vd.c. fan, lighting a LED light, and charging a mobile phone. The novelty in charging a Li-ion battery is to run a fan for domestic biomass cookstove for cleaner combustion. The fan is also used for cooling one side of TEG through heat sink for improving electrical performance of TEG and thus improving the combustion of the cookstove. This cookstove has been deployed in the rural areas to check its usability, viability, electrical and thermal performance under the umbrella of clean combustion.

In India, majority of the population (around 85 %) living in rural areas still use traditional biomass fuels in form of wood, agriculture residues, animal dung, etc., for meeting their energy needs. These fuels are burnt in mud (traditional) cookstoves for cooking and other thermal applications. Inefficient burning of biomass in traditional cookstoves poses serious health hazards. Experiments have been carried out on low cost, improved forced draft cookstove, and modifications were made to increase the thermal efficiency and to lower smoke emissions by varying parameters such as height of grate from base, variations in air flow rate, height between top plate and vessel, etc., without making major changes in the structure of cookstove such as diameter and air inlet points. Modification in air flow rate leads to increased thermal efficiency with low smoke emissions. All measurements were made according to the Bureau of Indian Standards (IS 13152: Part 1-Portable Solid Bio-Mass Cookstove (Chulha).

No abstract

No abstract