Performance and emission reduction potential of micro-gasifier improved through better design

Kamil Dino Adem; Demiss Alemu Ambie; Kamil Dino Adem; Demiss Alemu Ambie

doi:10.3934/energy.2017.1.63

AIMS Energy

2017, Volume 5, Issue 1: 63-76. doi: 10.3934/energy.2017.1.63

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Research article

Performance and emission reduction potential of micro-gasifier improved through better design

Kamil Dino Adem ^,,
Demiss Alemu Ambie

School of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, Addis Ababa Institute of Technology, Addis Ababa University, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Received: 04 November 2016 Accepted: 27 December 2016 Published: 05 January 2017

Biomass gasification is getting popular for household cooking application in most developing countries including Ethiopia. The preference for biomass gasification is due to the generation of less CO (Carbon Monoxide) and PM (Particulate Matter) in comparison with other biomass cookstoves. Our study showed the improvement in thermal efficiency and emission reduction potential of micro-gasifier. A prototype micro-gasifier was built and tested using the water boiling test protocol. The test results gave a thermal efficiency of 39.6% and a specific fuel consumption of 57 g of fuel/ liter of water. With regard to indoor air pollution, the maximum CO & PM registered were 12.5 ppm and 1.85 mg/m3, respectively. Using clean development mechanism (CDM) methodology, the estimated emission reduction potential of the micro-gasifier is 1.30 tCO2 per micro-gasifier per year. Generally, the micro-gasifier has better performance compared to the previous designs proposed by other researchers. Thus, disseminating our micro-gasifier at a larger scale in developing countries such as Ethiopia will be beneficial in reducing deforestation and emission that will be brought about by using open-fire stoves and thus, helps to obtain carbon credit.
- micro-gasifier,
- gasifier stove,
- biomass,
- performance evaluation,
- indoor air pollution,
- greenhouse gas
Citation: Kamil Dino Adem, Demiss Alemu Ambie. Performance and emission reduction potential of micro-gasifier improved through better design[J]. AIMS Energy, 2017, 5(1): 63-76. doi: 10.3934/energy.2017.1.63

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Abstract

Biomass gasification is getting popular for household cooking application in most developing countries including Ethiopia. The preference for biomass gasification is due to the generation of less CO (Carbon Monoxide) and PM (Particulate Matter) in comparison with other biomass cookstoves. Our study showed the improvement in thermal efficiency and emission reduction potential of micro-gasifier. A prototype micro-gasifier was built and tested using the water boiling test protocol. The test results gave a thermal efficiency of 39.6% and a specific fuel consumption of 57 g of fuel/ liter of water. With regard to indoor air pollution, the maximum CO & PM registered were 12.5 ppm and 1.85 mg/m3, respectively. Using clean development mechanism (CDM) methodology, the estimated emission reduction potential of the micro-gasifier is 1.30 tCO2 per micro-gasifier per year. Generally, the micro-gasifier has better performance compared to the previous designs proposed by other researchers. Thus, disseminating our micro-gasifier at a larger scale in developing countries such as Ethiopia will be beneficial in reducing deforestation and emission that will be brought about by using open-fire stoves and thus, helps to obtain carbon credit.

References

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