Characteristics of fuelwood perturbation and effects on carbon monoxide and particulate pollutants emission from cookstoves in Nigeria

M.U Ajieh,H.I Owamah,L.C Edomwonyi-Otu,G.I Ajieh,P Aduba,K Owebor,S.C Ikpeseni

doi:10.1016/j.esd.2022.12.008

M.U Ajieh, H.I Owamah + Show 5 more

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https://doi.org/10.1016/j.esd.2022.12.008

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Abstract

Water Boiling Test (WBT) was carried out to quantify carbon monoxide (CO) and particulate matter (PM2.5) emissions. Typical rural kitchen environment was modeled using the Laboratory Emission Monitoring System (LEMS), and a WBT tailored tool for Controlled Cooking Test (CCT). Five cookstoves were subjected to the WBT test and CO data generated were represented as CO-unvented natural draft (COUN), CO-natural draft with chimney (CONC), CO-three stone household cookstove (COTH), CO-domestic cookstove (CODS) and CO-general cookstove (COGE). Similarly, data generated for PM were represented as PM-unvented natural draft (PMUN), PM-natural draft with chimney (PMNC), PM-three stone household cookstove (PMTH), PM-domestic cookstove (PMDS) and PM-general cookstove (PMGE). Results obtained showed lower emissions for COGE (−0.16 g/MJ) and CODS (0.1 g/MJ), followed by CONC (12.81 g/MJ) and COUN (13.61 g/MJ), while COTH had the highest value of 20.21 g/MJ. Simialry, the results obtained for PM followed the CO emission trend as PMTH had the highest gaseous pollutant (729.15 mg/MJ), followed by PMNC (467.65 mg/MJ) and PMUN (406.63 mg/MJ). Cookstove data was further subjected to Fourier transform (MATLAB 12th Ed.) to examine the magnitude of the spectral as resultant of perturbation. The result was validated with a 2-tailed t-test and suggests that CO and PM pollutants are time dependent for all cookstoves. Improvement in design and ventilation, particularly for cookstoves, are crucial factors for creating a more beneficial health outcomes for those in the rural and peri-urban areas of low-income countries. The outcome of this study is important for policy makers in the area of improving the design and construction of cookstoves. It will also enable reforms in the architecture of the rural household kitchen for improved health and well-being in line with Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 3 and 7.

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