Development and evaluation performance of top-lit updraft biomass micro-gasifiers for energy-intensive household cooking tasks in Mexico

Sustainable Energy Technologies and Assessments 2024 Vol.67 No. Art. 103813

Sánchez-Pólito, J., Berrueta, V., Ruiz-García, V., Beltrán, A., Herrera-Medina, E., Cazarez-Barboza, M., Álvarez-Icaza, L., Masera, O.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/su16114760

Abstract

In many Latin American households, traditional and low-efficiency cookstoves are still used to perform household cooking tasks requiring significant energy. This results in high fuel expenditure and severe indoor and environmental pollution, with severe negative health consequences. It has been shown that top-lit updraft (TLUD) biomass gasifier cookstoves, also known as micro-gasifiers (MG-TLUD), are an efficient solid biofuel conversion technology. However, only a limited number of studies have been conducted so far evaluating the effects of the design geometric parameters of MG-TLUD on their energy performance and indoor air pollutant (IAP) emissions. Further, no studies have looked at the adaptation of forced-draft MG-TLUD to be used with chimney cookstoves in high-energy cooking tasks. For this study, three MG-TLUD prototypes that use agroforest waste biomass pellets as fuel were designed and developed to be used as combustion chambers in a chimney cookstove. Special consideration was given to the device’s reactor size and the geometric parameters of the primary and secondary air entry holes, to improve their performance in cooking tasks culturally relevant for Mexican households. Initially, this cookstove used a rocket-type combustion chamber (RCC), which was substituted by the MG-TLUD prototypes. MG-TLUD and RCC performance results were compared with voluntary performance targets for biomass cookstoves based on laboratory testing. The P3-Chupiri prototype achieved the ISO/TR 19867-3 highest performance level (Tier-5) regarding thermal efficiency, fuel savings, and IAP emissions reduction. © 2024 Elsevier Ltd.

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