Energy evaluation of a cookstove using ethanol derived from sugarcane

• Grant number: 16/01463-2
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: March 01, 2016
• End date: September 23, 2016
• Field of knowledge: Engineering - Mechanical Engineering - Thermal Engineering
• Principal Investigator: Luiz Augusto Horta Nogueira
• Grantee: Alex Ikeda Francisco
• Host Institution: Núcleo Interdisciplinar de Planejamento Energético (NIPE). Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP). Campinas , SP, Brazil
• Associated research grant: 12/00282-3 - Bioenergy contribution of Latin America, Caribbean and Africa to the GSB project - LACAF-Cane I, AP.BIOEN.TEM

Abstract

The usage of wood as the only energy source for cooking in some developing countries is still a tough reality. In Latin America, the dependency on that kind of energy source corresponds to approximately 15%, whereas it raises up to 67% in Africa and even 80% in Sub-Saharan Africa, indicating how harsh is the reality for the latter areas. The high dependency on traditional biomass energy sources for cooking is linked to human health issues, heavy workload conditions (mainly to women and children) and negative environmental impact due to deforestation. Among the possible solutions to this problem, special attention is given to the usage of modern energy sources such as electricity, liquefied petroleum gas and biofuels. Concerning the studies comprehended in this Project, the use of bioethanol from sugarcane seems to be an interesting alternative to various African countries, given the supportive economic, environmental and social indicators regarding the production of bioenergy from sugarcane and the past experiences of some African countries on the production of sugarcane. The experiments of the ethanol cookstove will be of great importance. The tests will provide information inputs to the other studies being developed under the project, making it possible to determine feasible values for supply, demand and efficiency of ethanol in the cooking process.In this sense, the objective of this project is to experiment with an ethanol cookstove considering two different cooking recipients and three different hydrations for the ethanol fuel, aiming to identify its best energy performances and operating conditions. Among the specific objectives are included: - To assess the energy performance of the cooking process regarding energy consumption, time of operation, temperature, yield and autonomy. - To assess the influences of different hydration levels in the energy performance of the cooking process and; - To assess the influences of the types of cooking recipient (aluminum or clay) in the energy performance of the cooking process; - To assess the influences of the exhaust outlet diameter ratio on the energy performance of the cooking process. (AU)