The Influence of Stove Materials on the Combustion Performance of a Hybrid Draft Biomass Cookstove

ABSTRACT

The cookstove requires various materials for different stove components, such as the combustion chamber, stove body, insulation, and other accessories, which have a significant impact on the overall combustion performance of the stove. In the present study, two hybrid draft biomass cookstove (HDBC) models with different combustion chamber materials (stainless steel and ceramic refractory cement) were developed and tested. Both stoves in combination with three different insulation materials (perlite, vermiculite, and ceramic wool) were tested using the modified Water Boiling Test (WBT-4.2.3) and Durability Test protocol to assess emissions, efficiency, and stove durability performance. According to the ISO 19867-3:2018 voluntary performance targets, both stainless steel and ceramic combustion chamber stoves with all three insulations met the targets of Tier 5, Tier 4, Tier 3 & 2 and Tier 5 in CO emission, PM_2.5 emission, efficiency, and durability performance, respectively. Although there was no significant difference in CO emission, efficiency, modified combustion efficiency (MCE) and durability performance between the two stoves, the ceramic combustion chamber stove emits more PM_2.5 than the stainless-steel combustion chamber stove. The combination of stainless-steel combustion chamber and perlite insulation performs overall better than the other combinations.

KEYWORDS:

• Hybrid draft biomass cookstove
• biomass combustion
• stove materials
• emissions
• efficiency
• durability

Acknowledgment

The authors gratefully acknowledge the department of chemical engineering at VNIT Nagpur for providing facilities for conducting ultimate fuel analysis and the Sophisticated Analytical Instrument Facility (SAIF) at IIT Bombay for conducting elemental fuel analysis in their lab.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Supplementary material

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed online at https://doi.org/10.1080/00102202.2022.2138710.