Design and Development of Improved Biomass Cook Stove : Carbonized Cashew Nut Shell Burning

Biomass is a major source of households energy in India. Biomass meets the cooking energy needs of most rural households and half of the urban households in India. More than half of the world's population, three billion people cook their food indoors using open fires or traditional stoves. But most of these stoves are inefficient and it leads to increased health hazards, drudgery in fuel collection, greater fuel requirement and ultimately deforestation. Improved cook stoves are safer and they provide more efficient combustion of alternative fuels in comparison with traditional stoves.The research work was undertaken to design and develop the improved cooking stove suitable for family size. The stove was fabricated and tested at Energy Park, Department of Electrical and Other Energy Sources, CAET, Dapoli. The performance of the improved stove has been tested with different feed stocks such as CNS char, mango sticks, commercial briquettes and arecanut shells. Thermal efficiency was determined by carrying out water boiling test for different feed stocks.