Adaptive design and development of a modular water hyacinth briquette stove

ABSTRACT

As a result of exorbitant electricity bills, high cost of obtaining liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), and kerosene or paraffin oil, it has become necessary to develop a modular briquette stove as an alternative source of heating food in rural and urban households, restaurants and other business operations and facilities. This study is aimed at the construction of a modular cookstove for small and medium scale use, electricity generation, the designed stove is specifically developed to be fueled by briquettes produced from water hyacinth (WH). Improvement has been made in the development of the biomass stove to counter previous designs and specifically address the problem of pollution. The major improvements of the biomass stove design are the following: The provision of insulation around the combustion chamber to reduce heat loss through the walls of the chamber; incorporation of smoke rings on the top surface of the stove; provision of adjustable and variable air intake to ensure adequate air for complete combustion of hyacinth briquettes. The performance of the developed stove was evaluated and the results showed that the WH briquette stove has an average thermal efficiency of 70.51%. This indicates a better performance compared to the average thermal efficiency value reported in the literature. The briquette stove is designed with a standard chimney to transport carbon and reduce smoking. In conclusion, the commercial production of the developed product in volume will generate a stream of income and also help to engage young people.

KEYWORDS:

• Biomass stove
• waste materials
• briquette
• water hyacinth
• thermal efficiency

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Oluwayomi J. Oyejide

Oluwayomi J. Oyejide is a lecturer in the Department of Mechanical Engineering, College of Technology, Federal University of Petroleum Resources, Effurun, Delta State, Nigeria. He obtained his Masters in Industrial Engineering, B.Eng in Production Engineering. from the Department of Production Engineering, University of Benin, Benin city, Nigeria and a Diploma (Computer Engineering) in 2006 from the Department of Computer Engineering, University of Benin city, Benin city, Nigeria. His interests of research includes Robotics, Mechatronics, Industrial and Mechanical Engineering.

Modestus O. Okwu

Modestus O. Okwu is a lecturer and research fellow at the Federal University of Petroleum Resources Effurun, Delta State Nigeria and currently a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the School of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering at the University of Johannesburg (South Africa). He obtained his Ph.D.and B.Eng. in Mechanical (Industrial) Engineering, Federal University of Technology Owerri and MSc. in Industrial Engineering from the University of Ibadan. His research interests include: Algorithms, Combinatorics and Optimization; operations research and modeling; supply chain design, processes and engineering; renewable and alternative energy; industrial safety; IoT; machine learning; artificial intelligence and robotics.

Lagouge K. Tartibu

Lagouge K. Tartibu is currently an Associate Professor in the School of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering at the University of Johannesburg (South Africa). He obtained his doctorate degree in Mechanical engineering from Cape Peninsula University of Technology (Cape Town, South Africa) in 2014, specializing in thermo-acoustic technology. He hold a Bachelor of Engineering in Electromechanical engineering from the University of Lubumbashi (Democratic Republic of Congo) and a Master degree in Mechanical engineering from Cape Peninsula University of Technology. Lagouge’s primary research areas are applied thermal engineering, electricity generation and refrigeration using Thermo-acoustic technology, Engineering optimization, machine learning/artificial intelligence and mechanical vibration.