Experimental Investigation of the Gas Velocities in Three Biomass Cookstoves

In this study, gas velocities in different sections of three biomass cookstoves are found. A system using a Kiel probe, an electronic differential pressure transducer, and a thermocouple was used to measure pressure and temperature in order to calculate gas velocities. A Kiel probe and a sensitive electronic pressure transducer help in achieving quantifiable gas velocities. A woodgas stove, a rocket stove, and an open fire (for the purposes of this publication, an open fire is considered to be a type of stove) were tested at similar positions with respect to a cooking pot. The rocket stove and open fire used wood fuel, while the woodgas stove used pellet fuel. The gas velocity results ranged as follows: woodgas stove, 0.6 m/s to 1.56 m/s; rocket stove, 0.87 m/s to 2.88 m/s; open fire, −0.1 m/s to 1.42 m/s. The standard deviations of the velocities were mostly under 30% of the average. The ability to measure pressure and temperature simultaneously while running the stove normally can help cookstove testing and research. The goal is to not only know what stoves perform well or perform poorly, but to understand why stoves perform the way they do.