Current World Environment

Apart from emissions and inefficiency, heat generation from wood stoves to the surroundings is another undesirable effect causing health repercussions especially in the small dwellings of tropical regions. The present research addresses this problem. Steady state temperature measurements on the surface of the improved wood burning stove is used to determine this loss in which chimney draft control plays an important role. Experimental results were in good agreement with that of the model simulated using the commercial computational fluid dynamics code. A modified model in which changes were introduced to reduce the radiation and convection losses from the stove to the surrounding regions was simulated. Firstly, the radiation losses from the fire was reduced by reducing the size of fuel supply port. Secondly, a waste heat recovery system was introduced which resulted in lower stove body temperature. This was done by optimizing the use of the draft produced by the chimney.Results of the modified model of the stove showed a reduction of this loss by 12.08%. Stoves currently used under the national project for rural energy development was used for this purpose. Apart from improving the stove efficiency, this development will have a positive impact on the acceptability of the improved wood stove in rural households and also help to further reduce fuel consumption.