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Comparison of a Traditional Cook Stove with Improved Cook Stoves Based on

Their Emission Characteristics

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NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND APPLICATIONS Vol. 24. No. 1&2. 2015

Comparison of a Traditional Cook Stove with Improved Cook

Stoves Based on Their Emission Characteristics
B. A. Begum
Chemistry Division, Atomic Energy Centre, Dhaka (AECD), P.O. Box: 164, Dhaka, Bangladesh

Abstract
A comparative study on the concentration levels of particulate matter (PM) and black carbon (BC) emitted from different types of locally
used cook stoves was carried out. Eight different types of cook stoves including six local (a single mouth with chimney (portable), a single
mouth without chimney (portable), a double mouth with chimney, a double mouth with chimney (for large scale cooking) and a traditional
cook stove and two Indian stoves (Envirofit 3000 single mouth and Prakti with chimney double mouth metallic) were used as sources of
emission. The study was carried out at village education research centre, Savar. The concentrations of PM10, PM2.5, BC and carbon
monoxide (CO) measured at different stages of water boiling test (WBT) from the double mouth with chimney stove (fixed on the floor)
were found to be less than any other cook stove. The emissions of PM 10, PM2.5 and CO from traditional cook stoves found to be higher than
those of improved cook stoves whereas BC level should lower value. The PM, BC and CO emissions from Prakti cook stove are lesser than
those of Envirofit cook stove but the body of Prakti stove being metallic and became dangerously hot during cooking. Hence, it can be
calculated that the locally improved cook stoves are much better than the traditional ones and even than Indian ones available in
Bangladesh.
Keywords: Traditional cook stove, improved cook stove

1. Introduction The energy efficiencies of traditional stoves vary between

Indoor air pollution occurring from the combustion of 5-15 % [7]. With a poor thermal efficiency, the traditional
biomass fuel in traditional cook stoves causes a significant cook stove has several disadvantages which are associated
public health hazard predominantly affecting poor rural and with deforestation, troublesome and highbiomass collection
urban population in many developing countries. A large time, indoor air pollution and health impact and climate
number of people is exposed daily to harmful emissions and change. In Bangladesh, most of the households cook their
other health risks during biomass burning, typically in low foods in traditional cook stoves using biomass fuels because
efficient traditional stoves having inadequate ventilation. of the unavailability of natural gas. Though a large quantity
Majority of those exposed to enhanced level of pollutants of carbon dioxide (CO2), a potential greenhouse gas
are women responsible for food preparation in kitchen, and (GHG), is emitted from these stoves, the emission from
infant/young children who spend time around the women biomass would be considered as neutral if the biomass fuel
near the cooking area. cycle would rely on renewable harvesting [8].
The domestic fuel use has a great impact on health and Burning biomass in traditional stoves, often with little or no
affect the household economy, women’s time and activities, ventilation, emits smoke containing large quantities of
gender roles and relations, safety and hygiene, as well as harmful particulate matter and other gaseous pollutants.
global environment. It is estimated that half of the Recent Studies have shown that indoor air pollution levels
worldwide wood harvest is used as fuel [1]. Further, in from combustion of biofuels are extremely high; often
some rural settings, poor families expend significant many times the standards in different developed countries
fraction of household income to purchase bio-fuels or such as those set by the USEPA for ambient levels [9].
devote large fraction of household labour to collect fuels for Typically 24-hours mean levels of PM10 emitted from the
cooking. combustion of biofuels for domestic cooking ranges from
300 to 3000 µg/m3 depending on the type of fuel, stove and
Around 24 million general households in rural area and 5.8 kitchen types [10]. Concentration levels measured depend
million general households in urban area in Bangladesh use on where and when monitoring takes place, given that
biomass fuels for household cooking purpose [2]. Almost significant temporal and spatial variation (within a house,
all households use traditional stoves for cooking and other including room to room), may occur. These small particles
heating purposes. A traditional stove is a mud built cylinder are able to penetrate deep into the lungs and appear to have
with three raised points on which cooking utensil rests. The the greatest potential to health hazard [11-12].
stove may be built under or over ground [3]. The common
biomasses used for cooking purpose are firewood, leaves, There is consistent evidence that exposure to biomass
tree twigs, agricultural crop residues such as rice straw, rice smoke increases the risk of common and serious diseases of
husk, jute sticks, sugarcane bagasse, sawdust, cow dung etc. both children and adults [5]. From a policy standpoint,
[4]. The consumption of biomass fuels for household although it is health risks that drive policy concern, there is
cooking with traditional cook stoves in Bangladesh is a need for good proxy indicators to guide and facilitate
around 7 to 8 kg per household per day [5-6]. action to mitigate Indoor Air Pollution (lAP). As a result, it
is useful to develop ways of reduction of indoor air
pollution by improving the traditional cook stoves.
Corresponding author: bilkisab@[Link]

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NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND APPLICATIONS Vol. 24. No. 1&2. 2015

Determining population exposure will not only improve boiling point and the amount of evaporated water up to
estimates of the overall impact of indoor air pollution but boiling point was recorded for each test run on all types of
also help better target policy interventions. The aim of this cook stoves. From WBT, time to boiling, burning rate,
study is to estimate the emission of PM, BC and CO from specific fuel consumption, specific energy consumption,
improved cook stoves which are locally made and compare firepower, cooking power, turndown ratio, and overall stove
these stoves with traditional and as well as Indian cook thermal 11-26 efficiency were determined. The stoking for
stoves. entire WBT was carried by a several years experienced
woman since stoking rate is highly person dependent. In
2. Materials and Methods order to perform this experiment, the wood consists of
The village education research center (VERC) facility at mango tree was used as fuel. The moisture content and as
Savar was used for the present study. A total of eight cook well as lengths of wood were recorded. The PM 10 and CO
stoves of which six are locally made and two India-made values were recorded for half an hour before the experiment
improved cook stoves were used as the sources of started and as well as after the experiment stopped.
emissions. The local cook stoves include a single mouth
with chimney (fixed on the floor), a single mouth with 3. Results and Discussion
chimney (portable), a single mouth without chimney The emissions from a single mouth cook stove with/without
(portable), a double mouth with chimney, a double mouth chimney were compared with a traditional cook stove and
with chimney (for large scale cooking) and a traditional found that PM10, PM2.5 including BC and CO were lower
cook stove. The double mouth with chimney stove with than those of the traditional cook stove (Table 1, 2, 3 and 4).
large scale cooking facility is used for commercial purpose Hence, it may be concluded that the fuel burning in a single
and the rest for family use. mouth cook stove (with or without chimney) either portable
The measurement of particulate matter (PM) and black or fixed is better than a traditional cook stove.
carbon (BC) was carried out in a kitchen of 11 ft length, 7 ft.
width and 8 ft. height with two windows of 3 sq. ft. and a Table 1. ICS - Single mouth with chimney (on the floor
door of 11 sq. ft. Two filter-based Air Matrix Samplers- fixed): concrete (local)
one for PM10 and another for PM2.5 and in parallel an Parameter Unit Stage of WBT
Anderson Personal Data logging Real time Air Monitor
Cold start Hot start Simmering
(PDRAM) sampler were used for measurement in real time
(2 min interval) of air particulate emitted during operation CO ppm 6.4±0.6 5.8±0.4 4.8±0.5
of the stove. The BC was measured in the laboratory using
reflectance measurement of PM2.5 filer sample [13]. An PM10 µg/m3 1241±47 1178±13 1031±121
electrochemical sensor based instrument was used for
PM2.5 µg/m3 814±25 773±51 680±121
measurement of carbon monoxide (CO) (GasBadge Pro
monitor). BC in PM2.5 µg/m3 306±18 291±26 256±47
For WBT of different cook stoves aluminum made pots was
used. Each of the pots was identical with respect to their
Table 2. ICS - Single mouth with chimney (portable),
dead weight, capacity and dimensions. Each pot had a dead
concrete (local)
weight of 350 gm and a thickness of 1.1 mm with a
hemispherical bottom. Each of the pots was 116 mm high Parameter Unit Stage of WBT
and the opening mouth diameter was 245 mm. The highest
diameter of the pot was at the middle, which was 290 mm. Cold start Hot start Simmering
For single pot, double pot and triple pot cook stoves, WBT
required one, two and three pots, respectively, for single CO ppm 8.4±0.2 7.3±1.0 6.6±0.8
test run. For each test run, initially each pot was charged
PM10 µg/m3 1180±231 966±363 795±296
with exactly 4150 ml of water. The cooking fuel used for
WBT was locally available wood from mango tree with
PM2.5 µg/m3 426±135 355±176 292±150
measured moisture content: 6% (wet basis), gross calorific
value (higher heating value) on dry basis 14,400 kj/kg and a
BC in PM2.5 µg/m3 390±100 322±139 264±114
calculated net heating value on dry basis 13,080 kj/kg.
Higher heating value was determined in the laboratory
using bomb calorimeter on wet basis. Net calorific value These types of stoves are locally available and suitable for a
was calculated using the WBT, version 4.1.2 excels single family. On the other hand, the thermal efficiencies of
calculation sheet program developed for Shell foundation’s- these stoves are higher than that of the traditional stove
household energy and health programme (HEH) [14]. For (Table 5). It was also found that the thermal efficiency
multi-pot cook stoves, WBT was terminated with the (Table 5) and the emission of pollutants (Table 6 and 7)
boiling in the primary pot. No lid was used to cover the pot from a double mouth with chimney stove and a double
so that evaporated water freely escapes from the pot. Fuel mouth with chimney (for large scale use) were higher than
required heating up the known quantity of water to its local those of a traditional stove.

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NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND APPLICATIONS Vol. 24. No. 1&2. 2015

Table 3. ICS - Single mouth without chimney (portable) Table 6. Double mouth with chimney (on the floor fixed),
concrete (local) concrete (local)
Parameter Unit Stage of WBT Parameter Unit Stage of WBT
Cold start Hot start Simmering
Cold start Hot start Simmering
CO ppm 11±3.2 9.2±1.2 6.9±1.3
CO ppm 5.6±0.4 4.5±0.28 3.2±0.51
PM10 µg/m3 1295±436 1205±415 721±184
PM2.5 µg/m3 474±221 442±221 263±102 PM10 µg/m3 1066±8 1000±26 720±49

BC in PM2.5 µg/m3 430±170 400±162 239±75 PM2.5 µg/m3 700±42 657±35 471±18

BC in PM2.5 µg/m3 263±21 247±16 177±12

Table 4. Traditional stove (half underground, fixed: mud
(local)
Table 7. Double mouth with chimney for large scale
Parameter Unit Stage of WBT cooking and heating purpose: Concrete
Cold start Hot start Simmering Stage of WBT
Parameter Unit
CO ppm 13.8±0.6 12.7±0.8 11.9±0.4
(Local)
3
PM10 µg/m 1520±27 1146±222 945±20 Cold start Hot start Simmering
3
PM2.5 µg/m 998±54 757±190 621±52
CO ppm 6.1±0.75 4.9±0.7 4±0.6
BC in PM2.5 µg/m3 376±27 285±72 234±23
PM10 µg/m3 1066±226 958±212 721±257

Table 5. Stove thermal efficiency in percentage for PM2.5 µg/m3 798±155 716±139 536±174
different types of stove
BC in PM2.5 µg/m3 118±29 107±31 83±41
No. Type of stove Thermal efficiency in %
Stage of WBT Though the emissions of PM, BC and CO from the Indian
cook stoves (Table 8 & 9) compared to those of a
Cold Hot Simmering traditional cook stove (Table 4) are better from the health
start start
point of view and their thermal efficiencies are higher, the
1 Single Mouth with Indian stoves are still unsafe as the outer surface of their
Chimney (On the Floor 17.8 18.6 24.2 steel-made bodies becomes dangerously hot while cooking.
Fixed)
2 Single Mouth with Table 8. Envirofit Z 3000 single mouth (fixed): India
17.8 17.8 22.1
Chimney (Portable)
Parameter Unit Stage of WBT
3 Single Mouth without
19.3 22.1 23.0
Chimney (Portable)
Cold start Hot start Simmering
4 Double Mouth with
Chimney (On the Floor 24.5 26.1 22.7
CO ppm 8.4±0.2 7.3±1.0 6.6±0.8
Fixed)
5 Double Mouth with PM10 µg/m3 1180±231 966±363 795±296
Chimney for Large Scale
22.1 25.3 22.3
Cooking and Heating PM2.5 µg/m3 426±135 355±176 292±150
Purpose
6 Traditional Stove (Half BC in PM2.5 µg/m3 390±100 322±139 264±114
10.4 13.4 10.4
Underground, Fixed)
7 Envirofit Z 3000 Single
17.8 18.5 16.4 The results obtained for PM and black carbon emitted from
Mouth (Fixed)
all stoves have been shown in the table-1-9 except table 5 in
8 Prakti with Chimney
Double Mouth Metallic 20 20.6 19.3
which the thermal efficiency of the cook stoves are
(Fixed) described. During operation of each cook stove the door of
the kichen was kept closed so that the concentration of the
emitted particles in the room remained adequate to obtain
statistically good data. Two mass data for PM10 and PM2.5
were obtained from the airmatrix instruments for the two
month ICS test. The time averaged (PDRAM) data was

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 NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND APPLICATIONS Vol. 24. No. 1&2. 2015

Table 9. Prakti with chimney double mouth metallic 4. M. R. A. Mamun, M. S. Kabir, M. M. Alam and M. M.
(fixed): India Islam, Utilization Pattern of Biomass for Rural Energy
Supply in Bangladesh, Int. J. Sustain. Crop. Prod., 4(1),
Parameter Unit Stage of WBT 62-71 (2009).
Cold start Hot start Simmering 5. H. Rahman, Policy Gaps in Household Energy and
Indoor Air Pollution in Bangladesh, Practical Action
Bangladesh (2007).
CO Ppm 5±0.1 4.1±0.1 3.5±0.2
6. M. Asaduzzaman and A. Latif, Energy for Rural
PM10 µg/m3 939±172 871±160 796±229 Households: Towards Rural Energy Strategies in
Bangladesh, Bangladesh Institute of Development
PM2.5 µg/m3 702±105 650±97 593±151 Studies, Dhaka (2005).
7. A. H. M. R. Khan, M. Eusuf, K. K. Prasad, E. Moeman,
BC in PM2.5 µg/m3 105±31 98±31 90±36
A. M. J. Visser and L. A. J. Drisser, The Development
of Improved Cooking Stove Adapted To The
normalized to PM10 filter data which ensured quality Conditions in Bangladesh, Final Report of
PDRAM data. The PM10 data for three phases of test from Collaborative Research Project between IFRD, BCSIR,
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and even safer than the Indian ones. So the local improved Areas of Bangladesh, Building and Environment, 44,
cook stoves are better, available and cheep compared to the 898-903 (2009).
traditional and other stoves used in Bangladesh.
10. S. Dasgupta, M. Huq, M. Khaliquzzaman, K. Pandey
and D. Wheeler, Indoor Air Quality for Poor Families,
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