CFD simulation of a forced draft biomass cookstove for different airflow conditions

Abstract

Households in developing countries rely on traditional cooking methods despite low-efficiency and high risks of air pollution and health. Various improved biomass cookstove technologies have been developed to address this issue, but there is still room for improvement in biomass cooking technology. This research aims to enhance the biomass cookstove by investigating its performance under different air inlet conditions using computational fluid dynamics analysis. The impact of air flow rate and the position of the secondary air inlet on the thermal efficiency of the biomass cookstove is examined. The eddy dissipation combustion model and k-epsilon turbulence model are utilized in ANSYS Fluent to simulate the combustion process. The cookstove's performance is assessed at three different air flow rates (0.01, 0.02, and 0.03 kg/s) and at two different secondary air inlet positions. The highest thermal efficiency is observed at secondary air inlet located 50 mm below the outlet at a flow rate of 0.03 kg/s. The computational findings from this investigation show a significant connection between the air inlet conditions and the thermal efficiency of the biomass cookstove. Repositioning the secondary air inlet to a location with more available space for complete combustion improves thermal efficiency compared to traditional designs.