The 2nd Joint International Conference on Sustainable Energy and Environment (SEE 2006)

C-014 (P) 21-23 November 2006, Bangkok, Thailand

Biomass Cooking Stove for Sustainable Energy and Environment

Pitaksa Suvarnakuta1,* and Prapaporn Suwannakuta2

1
Mechanical Department, Thermal Power Construction Division, The Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand,
Nonthaburi, Thailand
2
Department of Community and Psychiatric Nursing, School of Nursing, Rangsit University, 52/347 Muang Ake, Phaholyothin Rd.,
Lakhok, Pathumthani, 12000, Thailand

Abstract: The Cooking stove has been developed, constructed and tested for two year to be used in commercial establishments such as
restaurants, small-scale/cottage industrial applications, and community-type cooking. The present paper is information of the first
final models for commercial use instead of using LPG or traditional stove. Efficiency and wattage of the stove were determined by
means of water boiling tests for a number of conducting the experiments. The average efficiency of this stove model has been found to
be about 21.77% for rice husk using. Starting time is 2 minutes, Fuel consumption rate is 2.26 kg/h, and time required to boiling of 2
kg of water is 7-8 minutes. The bluish flame and stable flame was observed for the experiments which is almost similar to that of the
LPG stove. Economic evaluation was calculated and compared to LPG stove which showed payback period in only 5.12 months and
saved money about 7,030.44 baht per year.

Keywords: Cooking Stove, Gasifier Stove, Rice husk Stove, Energy Conservation, Improve Cooking Stove

1. INTRODUCTION

More than two billion people cook using solid fuels: twigs, agricultural residues, dung, coal, etc. [1]. The technology to burn these
fuels results in poor combustion efficiency and high levels of indoor air pollution, estimated to be responsible for over 1.6 million
deaths a year [2]. Respirable particulates (small particles of smoke which get into the lungs) are considered to be the most dangerous,
and carbon monoxide is another known hazard.
Gasification of biomass a cleaner, more efficient and more convenient cooking option than direct combustion of biomass. Gasifier
stoves appear to be promising for community type cooking as these stoves can be designed to offer high heat power, and produce
very little smoke. Gasifier stove is an interesting option to address the problem of smoking in case of conventional biomass fired
stove. Such stoves have been developed in at least four Asian countries, i.e., China, India, Philippines and Thailand. The natural
cross-draft gasifier stove developed at the Asian Institute of Technology. Atmospheric air is sucked into the gasifier under natural
draft of the stove unit and gasifies the biomass fuel inside the reactor. The produced gas next enters into a gas burner, into which
secondary air flows from the atmosphere under natural draft. In the Philippines, single and multiple burner forced draft rice gas
stoves have been developed at Central Philippine University. Rice husk is gasified and the gas is burned in stove located closed to the
gasifier producing a luminous flame. The special-purpose straw gas cooker was introduced by Kevin Chisholm. It is used to change
agricultural and forestry wastes into fuel gas. It is claimed that small enough for household use, it operates well, and it can be
recharged with fuel material easily and conveniently. Gas can be produced within 1 to 2 minutes and can be operated continuously
without shutting down when adding fuel.
The stove in present study follows the principle of producing combustible gases, primarily carbon monoxide, from rice husk fuel
by burning it with limited amount of air. The rice husks are burned just enough to convert the fuel into char and allow the oxygen in
the air and other generated gases during the process to react with the carbon in the char at a higher temperature to produce
combustible carbon monoxide (CO), hydrogen (H2), and methane (CH4). Other gases, like carbon dioxide (CO2) and water vapor
(H2O) which are not combustible, are also produced during gasification. By controlling the air supply with a small fan, the amount of
air necessary to gasify rice husks is achieved.
Efficiency and wattage of the gasifier stove were determined by means of water boiling tests. The stove efficiency was calculated
using the following formula:

m wi C pw (T e T i ) + m w ,evap H l (1)
=
m f Hf
where m wi = mass of water initially in cooking vessel. Kg
C pw = specific heat of water, kJ/kg oC
m w ,evap = mass of water evaporated, kg
mf = mass of fuel burned, kg
T e
= temperature of boiling water, oC
Ti = initial temperature of water in pot, oC
Hl = latent heat of evaporation at 100oC and 105 Pa, kJ/kg
Hf = Calorific value of fuel, kJ/kg
Below are some important parameters that need to be considered in determining the appropriate size of the stove, taking into
consideration the power output desired.
Fuel Consumption Rate (FCR) - This is the amount of rice husk fuel used in operating the stove divided by the operating time.

Corresponding author: pitaksa_su@yahoo.co.th

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 The 2nd Joint International Conference on Sustainable Energy and Environment (SEE 2006)
C-014 (P) 21-23 November 2006, Bangkok, Thailand

This is computed using the formula,

Weight of Rice Husk Fuel Used (kg ) (2)
FCR =
Operating Time (hr )
Specific Gasification Rate (SGR) This is the amount of rice husk fuel used per unit time per unit area of the reactor. This is
computed using the formula,
Weight of Rice Husk Fuel Used (kg ) (3)
SGR =
Re actor area (m 2 ) x Operating Time (hr )
Combustion Zone Rate (CZR) This is the time required for the combustion zone to move down the reactor. This is
computed using the formula,
Lenght of the Re actor (m ) (4)
CZR =
Operating Time (hr )
Power Input (Pi) This is the amount of energy supplied to the stove based on the amount of fuel consumed. This is
computed using the formula,
Pi = 0 . 0012 x FCR x Hf ; (kW ) (5)
Power Output (Po) This is the amount of energy released by the stove for cooking. This is computed using the formula,
Pi x (6)
Po = ; (kW )
100
% Char Produced This is the ratio of the amount of char produced to the amount of rice husks used. This can be cpmputed
using the formula,
Weight of Char (kg ) (7)
% Char = x 100
Weight of Rice Husk Used (kg )

2. METHODOLOGY

The stove consists of reactor, char chamber, fan assembly and burner as illustrated in Figure 1. The reactor where rice husks are
placed and burned with limited amount of air.
Rice husk was used as fuel in the experiments conducted to measure the stove efficiency. Rice husk is located into the fuel
chamber that burned inside the reactor in a batch mode. The fuel is ignited from the top of the reactor by introducing burning pieces
of paper. The burning layer of rice husks moves down the reactor depending on the amount of air supplied by the fan. The more air is
introduced to the rice husks, the faster is the downward movement of the burning fuel. As the combustion zone moves downward,
burned rice husks are left inside the reactor in the form of char or carbon. The combustible gases that are coming out of the reactor
are directed to the burner holes which secondary air is naturally injected to the combustible gases through the secondary air holes.
After each operation, char is discharged from the reactor by tilting the char grate with its lever.

Fig. 1 Rice husk stove

3. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

3.1 Combustion Parameters

Table 1 show the testing results from 4 running. The starting time from ignition of rice husk by pieces of paper to burn produced
gases in the burner is only about 2 minutes that shorter period compared to traditional stove. The average operating time of this
model is 33 minutes that generally enough for cooking 2 to 3 kinds of food, but the operating time can be designed to the requirement
of user. Fuel consumption rate, specific gasification rate, combustion zone rate are 2.26kg/h, 105.57 kg/m2h and 1.96 cm/min
respectively. Time required to boil 2 kg of water measured from put the pot on burner to boiling point is 7.50 min. Thermal efficiency
is 21.86% which higher than that of cross-flow commercial gasifier stove (CGS-3) in which two pot setting and using rice-husk

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 The 2nd Joint International Conference on Sustainable Energy and Environment (SEE 2006)
C-014 (P) 21-23 November 2006, Bangkok, Thailand

briquette [3]. Char produced from rice husk is 26.66%. Furthermore, the luminous blue flame was observed which almost similar to
that of the LPG stove (Figure 3). These parameters are useful to up or down scale of this stove model.

Table 1 Combustion parameters

Items Run#1 Run#2 Run#3 Run#4 Average
Starting time (min) 2.00 3.00 2.00 1.00 2.00
Operating time (min) 32.00 31.00 34.00 36.00 33.25
Fuel consumption rate (FCR;kg/h) 2.25 2.32 2.29 2.17 2.26
Specific gasification rate (SGR;kg/m2h) 105.18 108.58 107.25 101.29 105.57
Combustion zone rate (CZR; cm/min) 2.03 2.10 1.91 1.81 1.96
Boiling time (min) 7.00 8.00 9.00 6.00 7.50
Sensible heat (Kcal) 143.99 146.60 140.58 140.58 142.94
Latent heat (Kcal) 421.20 442.80 448.20 518.40 457.65
Heat energy input (Kcal) 2,490.00 2,610.00 2,946.00 2,970.00 2,754.00
Thermal efficiency (%) 22.70 22.58 19.99 22.19 21.86
Power input (kW) 8.10 8.36 8.26 7.80 8.13
Power output (kW) 1.84 1.89 1.65 1.73 1.78
% Char produced (%) 30.83 27.50 24.46 23.85 26.66

3.2 Water Temperature Profile

Figure 2 shows water temperature profile that shows a similar trend and agrees well for all experiments. The temperature during
boiling period also shows more stable in all experiments.

Water
WaterTemperature
TemperatureProfile
Profile[Model
[ModelEasy1]
Easy1]
Temperature
Temperature[C]
[C]

120
120 Start
StarttotoBoiling
Boiling Boiling
BoilingPeriod
Period

100
100

80
80

60
60

40
40

20
20
Run1
Run1 Run2
Run2 Run3
Run3 Run4
Run4 Average
Average

--
00 22 44 66 88 10
1012
1214
1416
1618
1820
2022
2224
2426
2628
2830
3032
32
Time
Time[min]
[min]

Fig. 2 Water temperature profile

3.3 Economic Analysis
The comparative operating cost study of rice husk stove and LPG stove also evaluate as showed the results in Table 2. The
investment cost of rice husk stove is higher than that of LPG stove but LPG stove has more operating cost in term of variable cost
due to cost of fuel. So the total cost of LPG stove shows higher. Rice husk stove has electricity cost of 0.072 /day or 2.16 /month
that very low or insignificant to operating cost. The operating cost per hour of LPG stove is twice of that one of rice husk stove which
is 6.22 /hour. Payback period of this model rice husk stove is only 5.12 months or can be saved money in term of LPG cost saving
7030.44 /year. Rice husk using per year is about 1,314 kg. The rice husk consumption per day is 2.16 Baht or 65 Baht per month.
Another benefit of rice husk or other biomass stoves that is not including in this study is CO2 emission reduction that is major cause
of greenhouse effect to earth.

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 The 2nd Joint International Conference on Sustainable Energy and Environment (SEE 2006)
C-014 (P) 21-23 November 2006, Bangkok, Thailand

Table 2 Comparative operating cost analysis of using rice husk stove and LPG stove
Stove
Cost Parameters
Rice husk stove LPG stove
Investment cost
Stove 3000 1500
Tank 0 900
Total [] 3000 2400
Fixed cost /day /day
Depreciation 1/ 2.47 1.97
Interest on Investment 2/ 1.97 1.58
Repair and Maintenance 3/ 0.82 0.66
Insurance 4/ 2.47 1.97
Total 7.73 6.18
Variable cost /day /day
Fuel consumption 5/ 2.16 14.05
Electricity 6/ 0.072 0
Total 2.232 14.05
Total cost 9.96 20.23
Operating time [h/day] 1.6 1.6
Operating cost per hour 6.22 12.64
Payback period [months] 5.12
Yearly saving on fuel [] 7030.44

1/ Straight line method with 10% salvage value and 3 years life span
2/ 24% of IC
3/ 10% of IC
4/ 3% of IC
5/ 3.6 kg rice husk per day at 0.6 /kg cost; 1 tank LPG/20 days and
281 /15 kg LPG
6/ 18 Watt at 1.6 hour per day and 2.5 /KWh

4. CONCLUSION

This model of rice husk stove has high quality as same as LPG stove but more advantages in term of lower operating cost and
environmental friendly. Thermal efficiency of this model is average about 21.86%. Payback period is 5.12 months and yearly saving
on fuel compared to LPG stove is 7030.44 Baht per unit. If the government promotes or subsidy for 1,000,000 households using this
kind of stove in Thailand, it will save money or LPG fuel about 7030 million Baht annually. The subsidy to promote the biomass fuel
use is better than use money to support LPG price. The Energy Fund Administration Institute (EFAI), an independent agency under
Ministry of Energy responsible for procurement of fund to stabilize domestic retail oil prices and for other tasks, reported that until
10 October 2006 Thailands government pay money for LPG fuel cost about 11,510 million Baht [4].

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 The 2nd Joint International Conference on Sustainable Energy and Environment (SEE 2006)
C-014 (P) 21-23 November 2006, Bangkok, Thailand

Fig. 3 Bluish flame from rice husk stove

5. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The authors gratefully acknowledge their grateful to The Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand for financial support to the
Conference.

6. REFERENCES

[1] World Health Organization (WHO). (2004) ITDG Study on Smoke, Health and Household Energy in Kenya, Sudan and Nepal,
http://www.who.int/indoorair/interventions/itdg/en/. Retrieved date 27 July 2004.
[2] World Health Organization (WHO). (2002) World Health Report 2002- Reducing Risks, Promoting Healthy Life, ISBN 92 4
156207 2, World Health Organization, Geneva, Switzerland.
[3] Bhattacharya, S.C., Leon, M.A. and Khaing, A.M. (2003) Design and Performance of a Natural Draft Gasifier Stove for
Institutional and Industrial Application. Presented at the International Seminar on Appropriate Technology for Fuel Production
from Biomass, 1-3 October, Yogyakarta, Indonesia.
[4] The Energy Fund Administration Institute (EFAI) (2006), http://www.efai.or.th/theoil/theoil-money.htm. Retrieved date 12
October 2006.