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PERFORMANCE ASSESSMENT OF BIOMASS STOVES ON PROMOTION IN SOUTHERN AFRICA

JTM Tawha and MM Elmissiry
ENERGY TECHNOLOGY INSTITUTE, SIRDC, P.O BOX 6640, HARARE, ZIMBABWE ABSTRACT This paper presents results of tests done to establish the performance of selected wood burning stoves that have been promoted in the Southern Region of Africa. These are the Namibian Tsotso, Mali conical, Mali Cylindrical, Mali Orap, Swazi, South African Rocket and the Zimbabwean metal grate. The performance tests are confined to combustion efficiency and body temperature measurements. A comparison is made between the stoves tested and recommendations are given on the optimisation of the technical performance of the stoves. 1. 1.1 INTRODUCTION Background and aims and expenses associated with collecting and using fuel wood are reduced. In an effort to address the situation, Governments, non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and other developmental agencies in developing countries introduced biomass energy conservation projects. This saw the introduction of different improved metal and mud stove designs. However, surveys conducted indicated that there was generally a low level of acceptance for the improved stoves, even with subsidies to adopters, because of various reasons. There is strong evidence that appropriateness of a stove is highly site specific depending on the social, technical and economic circumstances. A stove design that may do very well in one region can be a total disaster in another area even if the design is very efficient in the laboratory. Issues such as how accessible, how affordable, how appealing to look at and how easy the stove is to use are important in the dissemination and acceptance of stove technologies. It is also important to note that stoves are only part of the cooking systems and they may not be considered in isolation to other factors of the system. These factors include the type of pot used, how well the pot fits the stove design, whether pot lids are used, cooking habits, cultural values and management of the kitchen and fuel. It is however necessary to have stove designs tested in the laboratory as the combustion efficiency plays an important part in the overall stove system efficiency. Laboratory stove tests are useful in creating a data bank upon which the stoves could be characterized in terms of their performance. The present work therefore only presents results of laboratory tests performed on seven stove designs in use in the region. The information presented could be used to improve on the existing designs. 1.2. Description of the stoves

Traditional fuels, including firewood, charcoal, agricultural residues and cow dung, play a vital role in providing for the domestic energy requirements for communities in developing countries. Domestic requirements include energy for cooking, lighting, space heating, beer brewing brick making and other income generation activities. It is widely accepted that with the current energy policies for domestic use and the ever-rising cost of supplying or using other forms of energy, traditional fuels will remain the primary source of energy for the urban poor and rural households in the foreseeable future. Of these traditional fuels, wood is the most affordable and readily available type of fuel used for household energy. This wood is typically burnt in open fires or poorly designed stoves, often indoors, and rarely with adequate ventilation or chimneys leading to incomplete combustion of the fuel. This results in the consumption of unnecessarily large amounts of firewood during cooking and other heating purposes and emission of noxious smoke that impacts negatively on the health of the cook and all individuals exposed to the polluted cooking environment. Inefficient consumption of firewood has contributed to deforestation and consequently an increased burden especially for women and children who have to travel long distances in search of firewood for their family requirements. Among the technologies introduced for efficient utilization of firewood, stoves are undoubtedly the most popular and wide spread technologies in urban poor and rural households. By improving the efficiency of the stove, energy is saved, indoor air pollution is reduced and the communities are empowered as the time, effort, risks

A brief description of each stove tested is given below. It is important to note that the names given only help in identifying the stoves and may not be the names used in the places of origin. 1.2.1 The Metal Grate

This is an open fire cooking technology that normally provides for multi pot cooking. It is the most widely used and accepted stove in Zimbabwe. It accommodates more than one pot at a time and this has been its major strength compared to the improved one-pot stoves. The stove can accommodate wood of varying dimensions and does not require special materials and tools for its construction. Surveys conducted so far reveal that the stove is durable.

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The stove also performs many functions like cooking; roasting, drying meat and providing space heating. However the stove dimensions are not standardised. This open fire forms the basis of the comparison tests. 1.2.2 Mali Orap, Mali Cylindrical, Mali Conical

2.2

Fuel burn rate tests Firewood consumption tests Water-boiling tests (WBTs) Comparison tests and Stove body temperature tests Conditions

The designs used were all single pot, single jacket stoves based on an original West African design. Our particular stoves came from Mali(which explains the names given) and were adapted to the Zimbabwean conditions. The Mali cylindrical has a cylindrical upper part while the Mali Conical has a conical upper part. The Mali Orap is a Zimbabwean version of the Mali conical that takes into account user comments after initial field tests. 1.2.3 Namibian Tsotso

All tests were carried out in the laboratory to ensure that draughts do not influence the results. Temperature, time and mass measurements were made. The pot lid was on in all the tests and only the power phase was considered. Water was filled in to occupy two thirds of the pot capacity. 2.3 Specifications

This is the Namibian adaptation of the Zimbabwean Tsotso stove. It is a double metal jacket stove with a vermiculite- sand-mixture as insulation in between. The inner jacket is perforated. The stove therefore features primary combustion, secondary combustion as well as pre heated secondary air injection. It is a single pot metal stove. 1.2.4 Swazi Stove

Pot Specifications Mass of Pot used is 0.798kg Full capacity of pot is 3.078litres Amount of water used for the experiments was 2.00litres. Wood Specifications The following wood types were used Air dried wood from service stations (possibly mixture of eucalyptus and wattle) Air -dried indigenous Msasa twigs.

This is another modification on the original Zimbabwean Tsotso Stove. It consists of three components: -the main stove body -the fire grate with holes punched through -the pot support The main stove body has an upper and lower part. The lower part allows for collection and removal of ash. The upper part houses the grate and pot rests. The bottom part of the stove is perforated and a sliding door fixed to allow for air regulation for the different stages of cooking that is the power and simmering phases. The power phase requires more heat to quickly bring to boil while the simmering phase requires less heat to maintain the boiling. The stove features primary and secondary combustion, preheated secondary air injection as well as air regulation. Insulation is provided for by air incorporated in-between a metal jacket on the upper part of the stove housing. 1.2.5 The South African Rocket Stove

Instrumentation

Digital thermometers (GTH 1160) with an accuracy of +1 degree Celsius were used for temperature measurements. A relative humidity sensor with an accuracy of +1% was used for relative humidity measurements.

For the measurement of mass the Range Ohaus balance was used and has an accuracy of +/-1g. For calculations the following values were used. Specific Heat Value of Water Cw Latent Heat of Evaporation L Heat Value of wood H 3. PROCEDURE = 4.2kJ/kg.oC. = 2 256kJ/kg.oC = 18 000kJ/kg.oC

This is an adaptation and modification of the Rocket and the Mali Stoves. It consists of a specially designed elbow housed in a Mali conical stove body. Vermiculite filled in between the firebox and the Mali stove outer part provides insulation. The stove has no grate. 2. 2.1 TESTING Tests

The following tests were undertaken:

To determine the performance of each stove, Water boiling tests (WBT) were done. In a WBT, a measured quantity of water is brought to boil. The water temperature, time and amount of fuel used are recorded. In all the tests done, the simmering phase was not investigated.

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The following quantities were measured and/or recorded in each experiment: mass of : the water in each pot, 2 litres were used in these experiments. empty stove, pot, lid and thermometer, stove , pot, lid, thermometer and cold water, stove , pot, lid, thermometer and hot water starting fuel and amount of wood used ambient temperature relative humidity temperature of the water until boiling time to boil

Cw - 4.2kJ/kg.oC. L - 2 256kJ/kg.oC H - 18 000kJ/kg.oC 4. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION The results presented here are a summary of the average values obtained after repeating the experiments over a number of times. The following comments may be made. 4.1 Average firewood burnt

The chart below show the amount of firewood used. This does not include the correction for moisture in the wood and the energy content of charcoal remaining.
Average Firewood used

RSA Rocket Swazi M etal Grate Nam Tsotso ib M ali Con

The tests were repeated on different days and results were then averaged. For these tests the efficiency of each stove is defined as the ratio of the amount of heat absorbed by the water in each pot and the amount of heat supplied by the fuel wood. Since all the tests are done at the same conditions, in the pots of identical dimensions, it can be assumed that the heat losses from the pots to the surroundings are similar. Hence, the heat supplied by the stove is equal to the sum of the heat for bringing the water to the boiling point and the latent heat for evaporating part of the water. From the definition above, the following formula was used to calculate the efficiency of each stove:

M ali Cyl Orap M ali 0 0.2 0.4 Average fuel used Kg Series1 0.6 0.8

Figure 1 Average firewood consumed The Swazi stove consumes the least amount of firewood followed by the Mali cylindrical stove. The open fire i.e. Metal grate consumes the highest amount of firewood. The metal grate and RSA rocket consume about twice as much as the Swazi stove. The consumption of the metal grate is explained by the losses to the environment since the stove is not enclosed. The RSA rocket consumed high amounts of firewood too. The stove was difficult to light and required a lot of blowing. This may be because of possible design error in the elbow made for this stove and that the stove was not fixed with a grate. The stove was produced in a training workshop and as a result it may not have been properly done. 4.2 Fuel consumption

PHU =

m w C w (Tb Ti ) + m s L x100 % mf H

where: PHU - efficiency of each stove mw - mass of water in each pot at the beginning of the experiment [kg]. ms - mass of water evaporated from the pot during the experiment [kg] mf - the total mass of fuel consumed during the experiment[kg] CW - specific heat capacity of water [kJ/oC.kg] Tb - final temperature of boiling water [oC] Ti - initial temperature of water [oC]. L - latent heat of vaporization of water at atmospheric pressure and 100oC [kJ/kg.oC] H - net calorific value of fuel which is adjusted for moisture content[kJ/kg.oC] For calculation purposes the following constants were used:

The Chart below compares the fuel used by the different stoves to bring 2 litres of water to boil. Dry wood consumption includes corrections for the energy content in the remaining charcoal and the moisture content of the air dried wood. Relative Humidity values are used to approximate the moisture content of the wood. Air-dried wood is representative of firewood used in households.

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Fuel consum ption 0.700 0.600 0.500 0.400 0.300 0.200 0.100 0.000

wood consum ption

Dry wood consum ption

Figure 2 Comparison of fuel consumption The chart shows firstly the difference between fuel consumption when moisture and energy content in the remaining charcoal is taken into account and when these are not considered. A similar pattern to the firewood use pattern is shown and this may be explained as above. However, for the dry wood consumption, the Mali Orap consumes significantly much more as compared to the other Mali stove designs and the Namibian Tsotso. This is different from the firewood use pattern. This may be because less charcoal remained in the Mali Orap when compared to the other Mali stoves and the Namibian Tsotso. The chart also demonstrates the differences that arise when different calculations are involved. It is therefore necessary to clearly state what has or has not been taken account when analysing results. 4.3 Stove efficiencies

handles. However to standardise the heat losses from the pot, one type of pot was used in all the experiments. This pot was used also because pots with handles are the most common in Zimbabwe. The RSA Rocket and the metal grate have efficiencies around 7%. The RSA rocket did not have a grate and not enough air was blowing through as evidenced by the rate at which blowing was required. The limited air entrance into the firebox leads to bad combustion and thus a lower efficiency. The Metal grate loses most of the heat generated to the surrounding because it is open all round. Too much air is thus introduced from all sides of the stove. The wind blows away the fire and reduces the fire temperature. The pot is positioned about 22 cm from the base of the stove. The distance from the burning wood to the pot base is large and thus the pot cannot see the fire. This reduces heat transfer to the pot and more fuel has to be burnt for a given cooking task. Hot gases and smoke freely escape into the environment carrying away with them the energy stored in these gases. This is different from the other stoves in which the designs make use of the escaping gases to varying degrees. The Mali stove designs have similar efficiencies to the Namibian Tsotso Stove. 4.4 Fuel Burn Rate

This looks at the amount of fuel burnt per given unit of time

Fuel consumtion per hour

RSA Rocket

The chart below shows the stove thermal efficiencies (PHU). This represents the percentage of heat utilized in heating water from the amount of heat generated by the fuel.

Swazi Metal Grate Namib Tsotso Mali Con

Ave Stove Efiiciencies 20.00 18.00 16.00 14.00 12.00 10.00 8.00 6.00 4.00 2.00 0.00
O ra p Cy lin M Co n N Ts ot so M et G t Sw az i SA Rk t

Mali Cyl Orap Mali 0.000 0.500 1.000 Kg/ hr 1.500 2.000 2.500

Ave Kg/ hr

Efficiency

Figure 4 Rate of consumption of fuel The Mali Orap burns the highest amount of fuel per hour followed by the Metal Grate. The metal grate stove has a high fuel burn rate since it is open and allows air to circulate more freely than the other stoves. It was difficult to explain the high burn rate of the Mali Orap as the design is very similar to the other Mali stove but only that the firebox is bigger than the other designs. The number of openings provided or air circulation might be contributing to this high fuel burn rate The Swazi also has a high rate because the primary air supply holes were left open most of the time during the tests. The RSA Rocket stove gives the lowest rate as the fire was difficult to burn because no grate was provided. The differences in the

Figure 3 Stove efficiencies The chart shows that the Swazi has the highest average efficiency of 17.15%. This could be higher if the right pot was used. The Swazi was designed for pots without

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burn rate are still to be unanalysed taking into consideration the design parameters for the different stoves. The effect of air regulation also needs to be examined. 4.5 Safety of the stoves

[2] Krishna Prasad K,: "Some performance tests on the open fires and the family cooker" A report from the wood burning stove group of applied physics and mechanical engineering, Eindhoven University of technology and division of technology for society TNO, Apeldoorn, The Netherlands, October 1981. [3] Vieweg F and Braunschweig/Wiesbaden S: "Fuel saving cookstoves"Aprovencho Institute, GTZ GmbH, Eschborn,1984 7. AUTHOR(S)

Further tests were done to find the temperatures reached on the outside of the stove. The finding that children play next to the mother during cooking sessions necessitated this. As such, there are possibilities of accidental burns if the stove is touched. The graphs below show the temperature rises in the Swazi and RSA Rocket. The Swazi is a metal stove with air as insulation. This is then compared to the RSA Rocket that incorporates vermiculite as insulation. 5. CONCLUSSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS

The results of the water-boiling tests revealed that the metal grate had the least thermal efficiency, all except the RSA Rocket consumed less than half the quantity of wood used by the open metal grate. Although the metal grate stove performed least, surveys conducted show that the stove is very popular with users because of its durability, multi pot capacity flexibility and ease of operation and production. However, the dimensions are not standardised and a lot of heat escapes to the environment because the stove is open all round. The RSA Rocket performed poorly mainly because of the lack of a grate. A grate should therefore be fixed to this stove. The Mali stove designs performed well but the grate needs to be replaced often. A thicker sheet of metal could be used but this option needs to be evaluated taking into account the extra costs compared to the increase in lifetime of the grate. The Swazi stove performed very well but improvements are needed to improve on its appearance and on its safety both to the user and to those around. Aesthetics plays an important part in the level of acceptance of stoves. It should also be noted here than the laboratory tests form only part of the requirements for efficient stove dissemination. Other attributes like the pot capacity, cooking habits, culture, type of fuel used, affordability and durability of the stove should be taken into account in stove dissemination. Stoves are very site specific and it is important also to note here that active participation of the target communities is needed to guarantee acceptance of stoves and success of stove projects. 6. REFERENCES

Principal Author: Mrs Joyline T.M Tawha holds an MSc degree in Renewable energy engineering from the University of Zimbabwe in collaboration with the Oldenburg University, Germany and a BTech degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Zimbabwe. At present she is a Research scientist In the Energy technology Institute at the Scientific and Industrial Research and development Centre, Harare, Zimbabwe. Her duties include among others research work in renewable energy technologies. Her address is: Energy Technology Institute, SIRDC PO Box 6640, Harare, Zimbabwe Co-author: MM Elmissiry holds a post doctorate and a PhD degree in Engineering from UMIST, Manchester, U.K. He is presently a professor and the Director of the Energy Technology Institute at The Scientific and Industrial Research and Development Centre (SIRDC). The institute offers R&D and consultancy services to the local and regional energy stakeholders in electrical, renewable and fuel-based energies. His address is: Energy Technology Institute, SIRDC PO Box 6640, Harare, Zimbabwe Presenter: The paper is presented by Mrs Joyline T.M Tawha. She holds an MSc degree in Renewable energy engineering from the University of Zimbabwe in collaboration with the Oldenburg University, Germany and a B.ech degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Zimbabwe. At present she is a Research scientist In the Energy technology Institute at the Scientific and Industrial Research and development Centre, Harare, Zimbabwe. Her duties include among others research work in renewable energy technologies. Her address is: Energy Technology Institute, SIRDC PO Box 6640, Harare, Zimbabwe

[1] Ballard-Tremeer G and Jawurek H.H: "Comparison of five rural wood burning cooking devices: Efficiencies and emissions" Biomass and Bioenergy Vol II No 5, pp419-430 Elsevier Science LTD. Gret Britain 1996

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