Performance evaluation of a powered charcoal stove using different biomass

A powered stove was designed to effectively utilized biomass, quickly start and maintain fire and reduce cooking time. The stove consists of a blower with hand winder and a fuel carrier. Performance evaluation carried out show that boiling time decreased with increased volumetric air flow rate for all the biomass used. Comparing the three biomasses, it took longer timeto bring water to boiling point using charcoal followed by wood and corn cobs in that order. The percentage heat utilized and fuel efficiency increased with increase in the volumetric air flow rate. There was no significant difference (p=0.05) in the heat utilization and fuel efficiency of wood, corn cobs and charcoal. Results also show that the specific fuel consumption decreased with air flow rate when yam, rice and beans were cooked. On the other hand, time spent for cooking the items increased significantly (p<0.05). Also in comparison, the specific charcoal consumption for cooking yam, rice and beans was less followed by wood and corncobs. On the other hand the time spent for cooking the food items was longer using charcoal followed by wood and corncobs. The results show that when powered the stove performed much better than under natural air flow condition and its efficiency increased with increase in volumetric air flow rate. Corncobs were more suitable replacer of wood fordomestic cooking followed by charcoal. The popularization of this stove will alleviate the problem of starting and maintaining fire and reduce over dependence on wood.Key words: Stove, biomass, wood fuel, corncobs, charcoal, airflow rat