December 2009

11 lbs Break Test

25 December 2009 - 8:17pm

Fuelage break test at 11 lbs.

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5 1/2 lbs

25 December 2009 - 8:15pm

Break test at 5 1/2 lbs.

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Chinese Draft Enhancer

22 December 2009 - 4:58pm

http://www.bioenergylists.org/node/2515

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Charcoal lighting with a Zambian draft tube

22 December 2009 - 4:56pm
Pemberton-Pigott

Crispin Pemberton-Pigott & Christa Roth, December, 2009


Chinese Draft Enhancer

Dear Friends

Working on advice brought by Cecil Cook from Lusaka, Peter Coughlin in
Maputo has tried using a short vertical tube (about 400mm) held over the
lighting charcoal to accelerate ignition. This tool is widely used in
Lusaka. It is typically 50mm in diameter and can be made from an piece of
scrap pipe or rolled metal sheet.

Peter reports that people using it have reported faster lighting and a
reduction in emissions during ignition (which is the smoky part of a
charcoal fire).

I tried a similar though larger tube over coal in a bucket and achieved a
dramatic reduction in particulate emissions - certainly more than 90%.

Regards
Crispin

This principle is not only limited to Zambia, it is pretty widely applied by other charcoal users in the region.
Though the most perfect 'chimney' I have got is from China: It came as a standard accessory packed in the carton of the Chinese coal-briquette stove marketed in South Africa under the name of 'Lotti stove'. I think the stove is manfuactured by Shengzhou. So it could be standard chinese practice. The conical shape with the two little air-holes on both sides shortly below the top works much better than a straight tube. We used one at stove camp this year on a two-can TLUD instead of the upper straight can and draft increased considerably. Foto attached, but not sure if it makes it on the list. regards, christa

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Africa
China
Zambia

Low Cost Rocket Stoves

22 December 2009 - 4:48pm
Winiarski

Larry Winarski, December, 2009

low cost, artisan , rocket stoves are being made. Some have been presented at ETHOS.Students of SIFAT have sent back pictures of making rocket stoves in their countries.

Jon and Flip anderson are teaching and improving simplified molding methods for making the Haiti rocket That I introduced in Haiti for Stuart's trees,water, people.

Ken Goyer's Aidafrica is making molded rockets as well as six brick rockets

VJ and Dan Wolfe have been teaching how to make six brick rockets

Rok is teaching how to mold rocket stoves for brickettes.I think he put a video on youtube.

Patricia McArdle made a youtube video of me teaching how to make the 16 brick adobe rocket stove in Mexico\with Wilfred's integrated cooking team. Many people have seen this.

the molded "big foot" rocket stove is made in Rwanda

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WFP SAFE Portable Stoves

22 December 2009 - 4:27pm

World Food Program sets out to start the save stoves initiative. The initiative is focused on refugees and other poor women, and highlights the need for stoves to reduce time spent gathering firewood.

Initiative highlights:
"WFP’s Safe Access to Firewood and Alternative Energy in Humanitarian Settings (SAFE) project will scale up distribution of fuel-efficient and “improved mud” stoves to assist almost 100,000 women in North Darfur. These stoves consume less firewood and lower health risks associated with smoke."

"In Uganda, WFP will focus on refugees and pastoralists in the drought-hit Karamoja region. It will provide more than 35,000 households and 50 schools with fuel-efficient stoves, as well as helping women to find other sources of income."

http://www.wfp.org/stories/wfp-launches-safe-stoves-initiativeNike

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File attachments: 
PDF icon wfp-stove-initiative-to-help-protect-women-environment_wfp.pdf
Sudan
Uganda
stickwood
Charcoal

World Food Program, SAFE Portable Mud Stoves

22 December 2009 - 4:06pm
Roth, Christa

Christa Roth, December, 2009

Good question, Tom: while we were with GTZ in Malawi, we did a lot of work on standardising the dimensions of locally produced fired portable clay stoves (model adopted from Practical Action's work in Kenya). Their selling price ranges from 1- 3 $ in the communities. We all agree that stove-wise, they are not the greatest devices, but the most affordable, accessible and convenient ones in this area. As people mostly don't have kitchens, portability ranges high on the priority list of peoples choices, so mudstoves are not an option here.

Thus we had to work with the available material to produce a stove that people wanted and could afford. With the help of simple moulds and measuring tools we worked towards a uniformity of this artisanal product and standardise the crucial points influencing stove
performance: size of the door, height of the fire-chamber, durability and shape of potrests to ensure a standard gap between stove body and pot., to name a few.
I never had a chance to get the stoves tested for emissions, but they do reduce fuel consumption as compared to the open fire, while the amount of reduction depends more on the user than the stove itself.
I can't quantify the change in performance achieved by these quality control measures, but they definitely led to a much better uniformity and acceptance of this artisanal product. A good-looking stove just sells better!

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Clay

update on Simple Mud Stoves in India

22 December 2009 - 3:38pm
Karve AD

Dear Tom,

we had developed, during the 1990s, a series of mud stoves, which not only possessed a higher fuel use efficiency but which also reduced the harmful emissions when compared with the emissions from traditional stoves used by the local people. They are made and sold even today by rural artisans trained by us. The cost is in the range of US$2 to 5. In 2003, the Shell Foundation came forward to support our stoves programme, but we had to stop promoting our own mud stoves, and we were allowed to propagate only models approved by Shell Foundation. The approved models had much lower emissions but they carried a price tag in the range of US$15 to 25.

One of the conditions laid down in this project was that the stoves must be propagated through commercial channels, without subsidy of any kind. We failed to achieve the targets set under the project, and because of this reason, Shell Foundation withdrew their support. We still sell the stoves approved by Shell Foundation but our clients are not the rural poor.

We have not given up our efforts to improve the performance of the simple mud stoves. The latest attempt is a model in which the body of the stove is made of a porous material, which has a high insulative capacity. The emissions are much nearer to internationally accepted standards. This stove costs about US$10, and if mass produced, it can be supplied at a price of about US$6 to 7

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India
Mud

ASEAN-US Next Generation Stove Workshop

19 December 2009 - 1:10pm
Bond

A couple of the presentations from the ASEAN-US NEXT-GENERATION COOK STOVE WORKSHOP, November 19, 2009.

One is a great study by Dr. Modi of Columbia University of several stoves in Tanzania, and the other is some useful info from Tami Bond. Kirk also gave a very useful presentation, but unfortunately it was not included in the proceedings.

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Africa
Asia
Principles
Rocket

Improving the $1 Stove

Submitted by Tom Miles on

It is clear from the recent New Yorker Article and the PBS Special that we are all impressed with the improved $20, $40, and $60 stoves. But these stoves are probably in the minority as far as fabrication or adoption. We should also be improving the $1 stove. Crispin presented some improvements to the low cost charcoal stoves at ETHOS a couple of years ago. Dean focused the ETHOS Stoves Camp on "refugee stoves" about the same time.

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