CLEAN COMBUSTION OF WOOD ?

by
Dr. A.M. Hasan R. Khan

&

Ir. P. Ver-haart
The Woodburning Stove Group
Eindhoven University of Technology,
Eindhoven, The Netherlands

, Permanent address: Institute of Fuel Research and Development,

Bangladesh

Council

of

Industrial Research.
Mirpur Road, Dhaka - 1205
Bangladesh

Scientific

and

CONTENTS
page nr.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

II

ABSI"RACT

II I

1 . INTRODUCTION

1.1 General

1.2 Toxicity of Carbon Monoxide Concentration

1.3 Pyrolysis of wood

2. EXPERIMENTS
2.1 Downdraft Stoves
2.2 Procedure
3. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

7
7
9

12

3.1 The General Behaviour of The Downdraft

Stove

12

3.2 Effect of Wood Block Sizes

16

3.3 Effect of Fuel Charging Interval

19

3.4 Effect of Wood Species

23

3.5 Effect of Secondary Air By-pass

26

3.6 Effect of Power Output

28

3.7 Calculation of the Carbon Monoxide

Concentration in an Enclosed Space

32

4. CONCLUSIONS

35

5. REFERENCES

36

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The work reported in this study was made possible by a fellowship
granted by the Commission of the European Communities, Brussels
to Dr. A.M. Hasan R. Khan and arranged by the Science and
Technology Division, Ministry of Education, Government of the
People's Republic of Bangladesh. The work was supervised by Dr.
K. Krishna Prasad of the faculty of Physics, at the Eindhoven
University of Technology. For this investigation, the laboratory
facilities of the Woodburning Stove Group were used. Dr. Hasan
was assisted by Ernst Schutte and Niek Verhoeven in the
laboratory and data processing.

II

ABSTRACT

In the present investigation, systematic experiments have been

carried out in which the influence of some operational variables
viz. woodblock size, fuel charging intervals, wood species,
secondary air by-pass and power output on the quality of
combustion, were studied. It has been observed that the
volume/surface area of woodblocks and the fuel charging intervals
play an important role in maintaining clean combustion of wood.
Woodblocks with a volume/surface area from 0.37 to 0.49 cm
produce a reasonable low constant CO/C02 ratio which on the
average is 0.13%. As the volume/surface area exceeds the above
mentioned limits, the CO/C02 ratio increases sharply and at a
volume/surface area of 0.53 cm this ratio is 1.23%. It has also
been observed that with proper adjustment of charging intervals
at a power output of 7.3 kW, the CO/C02 ratio is 0.006%, which is
even lower than in gas burning appliances. The secondary air
by-pass has no influence on the combustion. Wood species have
much influence on combustion behaviour. The excess air factor for
burning Oak and Beech is much lower than for White Fir. The
lowest excess air factor ever recorded in this investigation is
1.38 for Beech. Thus it may be concluded that, with correct size
of woodblocks and proper adjustment of charging intervals, clean
combustion of wood is possible for long periods.
Application of this principle in a domestic and large scale
cookstove will result in a healthier kitchen environment without
the need for a tall chimney to let the combustion products from
the kitchen to the outside atmosphere. The clean hot gases from
the downdraft stove can also be used in direct heating of food,
as in bread ovens, where much fuel can be saved as compared to
traditional ovens with direct or indirect heating.

I II

1.

INTRODUCTION

1.1 General
From the dawn of civilization man has known the use of fire.
Since then, fire-wood and other traditional fuels are used for
cooking purposes. About half of the world's population, living in
predominantly rural areas of the developing countries use
traditional fuels for cooking and other purposes. The most common
device used for this purpose is the three stone stove. Available
information indicates huge amounts of fire-wood are being
consumed in the developing countries for cooking purposes. It is
generally believed that this is due to inefficient cooking
devices used. Apart from low efficiency, these stoves emit smoke
which affects the health of the users and make the kitchen dirty.
With the growth of population in the developing countries the
regeneration rate of traditional sources of fuel is gradually
falling behind the consumption rate. A fuel supply crisis has
appeared on the horizon and in some countries already has assumed
alarming dimensions. Agricultural residues, fallen leaves,
cow-dung, etc. which should be used to increase the fertility of
the soil for cash crops production. now are being used as cooking
fuels. Even the bark of large trees, by the side of the road, is
taken off for cooking fuel. Most developing countries have a
forest area much below the sustainable level. This is causing a
change in the eco-system leading to erosion and changes in the
climate. To check this crisis, attempts are being made the
world-over to improve the efficiency of cooking devices, to
increase the regeneration rate of the traditional sources by more
planting, including fast growing species and to make use of
alternative sources of energy such as solar energy.
For the past 8 - 10 years scientists and technologists all-over
the world realized this alarming crisis of traditional fuels.
1

Since then they have been working on renewable sources of energy

and developed series of improved biomass stoves suited to a
particular country according to local food habits and type of
fuels used. These stoves save 50-80% of fuel when compared with
the traditional ones. The improvement was made by proper
dimensioning of combustion chambers to provide maximum heat
transfer to the utensils. In many cases provisions were made to
recover waste heat. As a matter of fact, the main aim was maximum
utilization of combustion energy and very little attention was
paid to the combustion products.
Woodburning stoves always produce carbon monoxide (Sulilatu.
1985) and its release with other combustion products in a kitchen
or other enclosed space will increase the concentration of carbon
monoxide. Depending on stove, kitchen volume, and air exchange
rate, carbon monoxide concentrations can reach such a level that
it will affect the health of the users.
It was also stated by Smith (Smith, 1984) that incomplete
combustion of biomass in cookstoves posed a major threat to the
respiratory system of users due to the release of large
quantities of irritants. toxins and carcinogens in the kitchen
environment.
Wood, a product of photosynthesis is a complex chemical substance
(Krishna Prasad et al., 1984). For all practical purposes wood
consists of carbon, oxygen and hydrogen. Thus the pollution
caused by wood combustion is more manageable because it does not
contain sulphur or other toxic elements and its ash content is
rather small. In general, combustion products of wood are carbon
dioxide (C0 2

),

water vapour (H 2 0) carbon monoxide (CO),

particulates and polycyclic organic matter (POM). The last three

are considered hazardous pollutants with respect to human health.
During the past 4-5 years, the Woodburning Stove Group at the
Eindhoven University of Technology has been working on clean
combustion of wood. This is another approach for improving
qualities of woodburning stoves. It is assumed that if the
fluegas is odourless, the only remaining pollutant is CO. The
2

yardstick for measurement of clean combustion is the CO/C0 2 ratio

in the combustion gases. In a reasonably clean combustion gas,
this ratio must be less than 0.5% and should not have any odour.
The latest development by the Woodburning Stove Group is the
so-called downdraft stove, which can exhibit clean combustion for
extended periods even at a high power output (7.3 Kw). The
principle of operation of the stove, in contrast to conventional
designs, is that the flow of air is in the same direction as the
combustion gases and fuel. Possible application of this principle
in the near future, may do away with tall chimneys in domestic
and large scale cooking stoves, which are very difficult to
maintain as well as very costly. Also direct application of hot
clean combustion gases in heating food-stuffs even in bread
ovens, is envisaged when much fuel can be saved in comparison to
conventional ovens with indirect heating.
The present design, the so-called downdraft stove is very
sensitive to operational variables. In this investigation
systematic experiments have been carried out to relate stove
design, size of wood blocks, charging intervals, effect of
secondary air-by pass, wood species and power output.

1.2 Toxicity of Carbon Monoxide

While designing a cookstove, importance should be given to the

combustion quality. The products of incomplete combustion are
carbon monoxide, soot and polycyclic organic matter. Sulilatu
---~c:;.--,

(Sulilatu, 1985) clearly explained in his article, the effect of

carbon monoxide in the atmosphere as a function of the exposure
time

for various conditions of labour.TCarbon monoxide is a

colourless, odourless and highly poisonous gas. It has a strong

affinity to hemoglobin (Hb) in the blood which carries oxygen to
body tissues. Carbon monoxide deprives the tissues of the
necessary supply of oxygen. The following reactions show how
oxygen and carbon monoxide react with hemoglobin.
( 1. 1)
3

---~coHb

CO + Hb

( 1. 2)

However, binding force of CO to Hb, is about 300 times that of 0 2

to Hb.
When breathing polluted air, CO as well as 0 2 are bound to the
hemoglobin according to the equilibrium reaction:
( 1.3)

The effect of the carbon monoxide concentration in the atmosphere

as a function of the exposure time for various conditions of
is shown in figure 1.1.

co(%)

atmosphere

015

I
I
I
I
I

0.1

~--

''

------- ---

--- --

poisoning

0.05

~-~---

\
\.,

maxi mum allowable cone

'.._..__

(MAC)

b resting

60

120

moving

30

60

0
0

-- -------------20

working

40

..,. exposure time (min)

Figure 1.1: Effect of carbon monoxide concentration in the atmosphere

as a function of exposure time for various conditions of
labour.

1.3 Pyrolysis of Wood

Wood consists of hemicellulose, cellulose and lignin . The
combustion of wood is a very complex process . However, combustion
of wood follows three distinct ways (Prasad, 1985):
(i)

pyrolysis resulting in the liberation of volatiles and the

formation of char;

(ii)

burning of the char; and

(iii) burning of the volatiles.

Pyrolysis of wood begins around 250C and very actively around
325C. Hemicellulose decomposes between 200 - 260C. It is
followed by the decomposition of cellulose between 240 - 350C.
Lignin breaks down finally at a temperature of 280C or more. The
entire pyrolysis process ends at about temperature of around
500C .

Flame

..---_o____
Char
(

""""'- - - -

-:.

Pyrolytic
_
zone
~
B
:I: - - - - - - -

Virgin
wood
A

Gaseous phase combustion

diffusion flame, mostly
turbulent - a 'free' fire
!~~oooc (probably ~ 12ooc)

Simultaneous heat & mass transfer

with chemical reaction; surface
combustion - a slow process
_s_Qq_~r ~aoo c

- -

Problem same as in zone A

but with sources/sinks(?) due
to pyrolytic reactions
200
dtT -'500 C
- -Heat conduction in a medium
with a moving boundary ;
migration of moisture & gases;
uncertain properties

T ~200 C

Figure 1.2: Processes and temperatures in a burning piece of wood.

Chemical analysis of different wood species showed that they are

almost similar in composition. Therefore the burning
characteristics are more or less assumed similar. Figure 1.2
represents the burning process of wood (Williams, 1974, and Brame

& King, 1967).

According to the figure, the burning process starts as follows
(Bussmann, 1988). When wood is heated, it first loses its
moisture, and at about 350C it starts releasing volatiles
consisting mainly of lower hydrocarbons, carbon monoxide, tar
(viscous organic liquids) etc .. These volatiles burn with the
well known characteristic bright yellow flames. The residue left
is mainly charcoal. It burns at about 800C with a faint blue
flame. After the burning of charcoal, the residue left is ash,
which mainly consists of Si0 2

These processes occur

simultaneously in a piece of wood at different locations.

2.

EXPERIMENTS

2.1 Downdraft Stoves

There were two types of stoves used in these investigations.
(i)

Downdraft stove-I as shown in figure 2.1.

(ii) Dowmdraft stove-II as shown in figure 2.2.

I;'.

!.~
:~1

~
~

(,?\
~-

--

fl

....,

C "'~

""":

Ii

't

l::
~
i.:i

,r--'" ---'

~
'"

' .1

f::

I]

~:

"~

190

0120

~
:~

J.'
'I

--.

t'

<>-'----C>

cL() l/j'
,.

~
AE

---

0 130
500

Figure 2.1: Downdraft stove-I (dimensions in mm).

A: bowl; B: grate; C: main body with chimney;
D: insulation; E: Secondary air by-pass.
7

The first stove was burnt away after performing only part of the
experiments due to high power outputs, so the rest of the
experiments was done with the second one. Both stoves produced
fluegases which contain very small percentages of carbon
monoxide. As the specifications of the two stoves are different,
the first one is capable of a power output of 2.6 - 4.4, and the
second one between 5.4 - 7.3 kW.

0105

I
I

c
IQ

10
0

0 1 20

1 __ J01___ J
A E ~""'

C>

0 130
<Jc--------C>

24 5
Figure 2.2: Downdraft stove-II (dimensions in mm).
A: bowl; B: grate; C: main body with chimney:
D: insulation; E: Secondary air by-pass.

Principle of combustion
When wood is heated, the volatiles are released and the charcoal
is left on the grate. For proper combustion of the volatiles and
the charcoal in a classical stove, air enters the stove by
natural draught in two different directions. (i) Primary air
enters from under the grate and moves in upward direction through
the fuelbed and helps the burning of the charcoal. (ii) Secondary
air enters along with the fuel through the feedhole and helps the
burning of the volatiles.
In the present design of the downdraft stove, there is no
distinction between primary and secondary air. All the air passes
through the fuelbed by natural draught. It acts both as primary
and secondary air. In the present design there is a provision for
a secondary air by-pass.

2.2 Procedure
During each experiment, the fuel consumption rate and CO, C0 2 and
0 2 contents of flue gases were recorded. Figure 2.3, represents
the experimental set-up. The entire downdraft stove was made with
mild steel sheet. It has three parts: stove body, bowl and
chimney. The dimensions are mentioned in Figures 2.1 and 2.2. At
the bottom of the bowl there is a grate. The grate was made by
welding 8 metal strips at lOmm intervals at the bottom of the
bowl. The distance between the last strip to the wall, where the
provision was made for secondary air by-pass, was 20 mm. The
entire stove was covered with insulating material, Al 2 0 3 fibre.
It was then placed on an electronic balance, with a sensitivity
of lg. The desired number of wood blocks for an experiment was
placed on a tray attached to the balance. The bowl was placed in
the mouth of the stove. The calibration of the appratus was done
with pure Nitrogen gas for 4 minutes, calibration gas for 6 min.
(0 2 = 7.34%; CO= 0.47%; C0 2 = 6.04%; N2 = 86.15%) and with air
for 12 min. (0 2 = 20.94%; C0 2 = 0.03%; N2 = 79.03%).

12

2a

~~==~,--8---,1======1

Figure 2.3: Flow sheet for combustion experiments of wood in the

downdraft stove.
1: downdraft stove: 2a: mass balance: 2b: tray with wood
blocks: 3: soot filter; ~: cooling chamber; 5: micro
filter; 6: pump; 7: CO detector meter; 8:. C02 detector
meter; 9: 0 2 detector meter; 10: data-logger; ll:computer;
12: disk

All the data were recorded by a data logger attached to a

computer. A few wood blocks soaked with kerosene were put into
the bowl of the stove. It was then ignited. When the fire in the
bowl reached the steady state after burning for 5-8 minutes, and
latter blowing with a piece of hardboard, the computer was
started for recording the fuel consumption and CO, C02 and 0 2
content of the flue gases . The duration of each experiment was 60
minutes. The charging of fresh wood blocks was done manually and
the charging rate was monitored by a stop watch. The flue gases
were sampled by a copper tube 20cm below the top of the chimney.
Fluegas is subsequently passed through a soot filter, moisture
10

trap, micro-filter and finally to the CO, C0 2 and 0 2 meters.

Before starting each experiment, the moisture trap was filled
with ice and after each experiment the water deposited in the
trap was removed. Also after each experiment the filter paper, in
the micro-filter was replaced . The data collected by the computer
is later processed with personal computer with LOTUS 123.

11

3.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

3.1 The General Behaviour of The Downdraft Stove

The general behaviour of the downdraft stove is illustrated by
analysing one typical experiment in detail. The experiment chosen
is SL. Nr. 3 from table V. The variables studied are stated
below.
Concentration of CO and C0 2 in the flue gases
In the experiments. besides the absence of odour, the
concentration of CO is used as an indicator of the combustion
quality. Figure 3.1 represents the concentration of carbon
monoxide in the flue gases as a function of time .
0 . 10

20

0 .0 8
15

(.)

(\J

0 .06

':!?.

10

':!?.

_j

_J

>

0.04

>

71

0 .0 2

0.00

0
0

10

20

30

40

50

60

TI M E (MIN)

Figure 3.1:

Concentration of CO and C02 in the flue gases as a

function of time.

The figure clearly shows that the concentration of carbon

monoxide in the flue gases is very small and remains practically
12

constant during the course of the experiment. The average

concentration of carbon monoxide in the flue gases is 0.003%
(Vol.). However the figure shows 2 large peaks. This is probably
due to poking the fuelbed during the experiment. The
concentration of carbon dioxide varies from 8 - 10% (Vol.). The
average concentration is 9.2% (Vol.).

Concentration of oxygen and CO/C0 2 ratio in the flue gases.

Figure 3.2 represents the concentration of oxygen and CO/C0 2
ratio in the flue gases. The figure shows that the concentration
of oxygen varies from 9 - 12% and the average oxygen content in
the flue gases is 11.3% (Vol.). The CO/C0 2 ratio was almost
constant during the experiment and its average value is 0 . 03%,
which is negligible in comparison with both traditional and
improved woodburning stoves.

10.80

2 0:

J 0 .60
~

(\J

0
ci'2

_J

C\J

0 .4 0

10

u
......

>

0.20

0 L.....!...~L.!_~~----'-"_L.'.---'---------"---'-'--'--'---'--'--~'----~~-~ 0 .00
60
50
40
30
10
20
0
TIME (MIN)

Figure 3.2:

Concentration of 0 2 and CO/C0 2 ratio in the flue gases as

a fW'lction of time.

Excess air factor

The excess air factor is defined as the ratio of the total amount
of air (VT) involved in the burning process and the
13

stoichiometric amount of air (Vst), which is the theoretical

amount of air to burn lkg of dry wood. It is denoted by :

A.

(3.1)

Figure 3.3 represents the excess air factor in the flue gases.
The horizontal line through the experimental data indicates the
average value, which is 2.33 .
5

;---~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~-

4.5

iI

4 jI

I
I

er

1(.)

<
LI..
er

<

3.5
3

(/)
(/)

lJJ

(.)

><

lJJ

2.5

1
I
i
I

/:: I(\
I~ i/ ~
1

J,v
,J .

' .

\)

I
0

20

40
TME!MINI

Figure

3.~:

Excess air factor in the flue gases as a function of

time.

Fuel consumption
The fuel consumption rate is represented in figure 3.4. The
average charging rate of the fuel was 333.3 mg/s, and the average
combustion rate recorded by the computer is 334.6 mg/s. The
figure shows that the fuel consumption rate during the experiment
is constant.

14

60

1000

800

>
0

w
2

600

:i

({)

400

_J

:i

LL

200

10

20

30

40

50

60

TIME (MIN)

Figure 3.4:

Fuel consumed as a function of time.

Power output
The general equation for the average power output is:

av

(3.2)

Where:
=average power output of the fire (kW).
sum of the individual wood charges during the experiment
(kg).
B

=net calorific value of wood (kJ/kg). For White Fir this

value is 16600 kJ/kg in case the moisture content is 11%.

tT

=total duration of the experiment (s).

The average power output of this experiment was 5.6 kW.

Qualitative tests of the flue gases
During the course of the experiment some qualitative tests of the
flue gases were made.

15

i)

Smell

ii)

Inflamability

iii) Presence of dust particles

iv)

Accumulation of charcoal

The smell was determined by sniffing the fluegases from time to

time. No smell was detected.
The inflamability

wa~

tested by holding a flame just above the

chimney. In this experiment, the flue gases did not catch fire.
The presence of dust particels in the flue gases and the
accumulation of charcoal were determined by observation. This
experiment showed neither dust particles in the flue gases nor
accumulation of charcoal.
The downdraft stove, in its present design, is very sensitive to
its operational variables. To ascertain these, a systematic study
of various variables, viz effect of woodblock sizes, fuel
charging intervals, wood species, secondary air by-pass and power
output was carried out. The results in tables I and II were
obtained by using downdraft stove-I and the rest of the tables
contain the results obtained by using downdraft stove-II.

3.2 Effect of Wood Block Size

To verify the effect of different woodblock sizes, a series of
experiments has been carried out, as listed in table I. To
maintain constant power output, as the different woodblocks have
different weight, various charging intervals and various numbers
of woodblocks of particular size were selected. Figure 3.5
represents the CO/C0 2 ratio as a function of woodblock sizes. It
clearly indicates that with the increase of volume/surface area
of the woodblocks, the CO/C02 ratio increases. For volume/surface
areas of woodblocks from 0.37-0.49 cm, the CO/C0 2 ratio is very
low and almost constant. As the volume/surface area increases to
above 0.49 cm, the CO/C0 2 ratio increases very sharply. To
explain this behaviour, the fire penetration rates for the
different woodblock sizes were computed by applying equation 3.3
(Bussmann, 1988) and listed in table I and shown in figure 3.5.
16

The fire penetration rate is the velocity at which the char

boundary advances into the virgin wood .

av A

(3.3)

= Penetration

rate (nun/s)

v = Volume/surface
A

= Volatile

area (mm)

fraction

It clearly shows that with an increase of the volume/surface

area, the penetration rate increases. This behaviour was also
noticed in the case of an open fire with different woodblock
sizes (Bussmann, 1988). This also implies an increase in release

~.SC .

::J/)70

I!

!
'

I'

:
~

oc.

~
/

u
u

I
I

l'!

ll
?'

'-

0.50

"

'-,

%6)

.,
r-

~r050

c<
z

f--

<

[[
f--

0 .0 40

+
<J

w
w
Q_

000
0.30

0.40

0.50

0 .030
0.60

WOOD BLOCK SIZE (V0LLJrv1E 1SUR.=- ACE AREA

Figure 3.5:

CO/C0 2 ratio in the flue gases as a function of the wood

block sizes (volume/surface area, cm)

17

TABLE I: EFFECT OF VOODBLOCK SIZES

Vood sp~cies: Vhite Fir
Secondary air by-pass: half open

Sl.
/Jr.

.....
00

fola11e/ Charging Po11er Average flae gas composition

oatpat
sarface rate
co
area(c11) {blocks/s) {kV}
C02
02 CO/C02
('!.)
{fol. 7.) {fol.7.} {fol.'!.}

Penetration
rate
le11arks
{mm/s)

0.367

2/45

3.74

0.016

11.49

8.99

0.136

0.039

X, A, N

0.393

1/30

3.83

0.014

10.99

9.66

0.128

0.043

X, A, N

0.423

2/75

4.38

0.006

6.42

13.79

0.088

0.044

X, A, N

0.485

1/45

3.79

0.019

11.29

9.21

0.175

0.046

X, D, N

0.532

1/60

3.87

0.032

9.21

11.34

0.364

0.052

X, A, N

0.589

1/120

3.00

0.086

7.52

13.15

1.228

0.059

S, A, N

0.393
0.485
0.589

3/60
2/60
1/60

2.65

0.084

10.55

9.90

0.751

X, A, N

Smell in the flue gases

No smell in the flue gases
Inf lamability of the flue gases
Presence of dust particles in the flue gases
- Absence of dust particles in the flue gases
Accumulation of charcoal-bed on the grate
No accumulation of charcoal-bed on the grate

=
=

=
=
=
=
=

S
X
I
D
A
C
N

rate of volatiles, which requires more air to obtain clean

combustion, which is apparently not available (see CO/C0 2 curve
in figure 3.5)

3.3 Effect of Fuel Charging Interval

Fuel charging intervals in a woodburning stove are an important
factor. Most users prefer longer intervals. The flue gas
composition also changes with changing fuel c'harging intervals . A
large number of experiments has been carried out to ascertain
this influence. The first set of experiments was carried out with
downdraft stove-I and the results are listed in table II. The
other set of experiments was done with downdraft stove-II and the
results are listed in table III. Figure 3.6 represents the effect
of varying charging intervals on the CO/C02 ratio of the flue
gases. These experiments were carried out by using downdraft
stove-I. The CO/C02 ratios of three experiments are plotted in
the same figure. The size of the woodblocks used is 20*20*36,6
mm. The power output of the stove was kept constant while
changing the charging interval. It is clear from the figure that,
with the increase of charging int.e rval, the CO/C02 ratio
increases sharply.
6

vI

5 11 5 0

I:I I

0
6

2160

u
'-

0
6
1130

""'-'~~=-<:~~~~-L.o........~=-Co.....,,i::~ci.,.."'"""""'=>l::t:::::::..~-=~~~~"""'8:~

Figure 3.6:

10

20

30

40

50

60

CO/C0 2 ratio in the flue gases as a function of time for

different charging intervals (wood block size =
20M20M36. 6 mm) .
19

TABLE II:EffECT Of FUEL CIAIGING INTERVALS

Vood species: Vhite Fir
Secondary air by-pass: half open

Charging

SL. rate

Kr.

(block~/~)

foer Average /lse ga~ copo~ition

ostpst
Cl
area(c} (kY}
Cl2
12 Cl/Cl2
fl.)
(fol.'!.} (fol. i.) (fol. i.)
folue/

~rface

le11ark~ #

1/30

0.393

3.83

0.014

10.99

9.66

0.129

x,

2/60

0.393

3.97

0.029

9.37

11.20

0.346

X, A, N

5/150

0.393

3.44

0.068

5.54

14.71

1.117

X, D,

3/75

0.393

3.87

0.038

7.78

12.33

0.445

1/60

0.532

3.87

0.032

9.21

11.34

0.364

2/150

0.532

2.97

0.043

8.62

11.89

0.534

x,
x,
x,

A' N

I'.)

Smell in the flue gases

= s
No smell in the flue fases
= x
Inflamability of the lue gases
= I
Presence of dust particles in the flue gases = D
Absence of dust particles in the flue gases = A
Accumulation of charcoal- bed on the grate
= c
No accumulation of charcoal-bed on the grate = N

A,

c
c

A' N
A' N

TABLE III:EPPECT OP FUEL CB!IGING INTElV!LS

Vood species: Vhite Fir
Secondary air by-pass: closed
Volume/surface area (c): 0.367
Charging

SL. rate
Kr. {block&/&)

loer
oat pat

Average flae ga& copo&ition

(kl/}

Cl
Cl2
12 Cl/Cl2
(1.)
{Vol.'!.) (Vol.'!.} (Vol.'!.)

le11arb

2/30

5.57

0.003

9.18

11.30

0.030

X, A, N

4/60

5.49

0.016

7.47

13.07

0. 266

X, A, N

8/120

5.61

0.024

8.78

11.83

0.415

16/240

5.92

0.035

9.64

10.70

0.624

x,
x,

20/240

7.03

0.013

10.78

9.37

0.151

Smell in the flue gases

No smell in the flue gases
Inf lamability of the flue gases
Presence of dust particles in the flue gases
Absence of dust particles in the flue gases
Accumulation of charcoal-bed on the grate
No accumulation of charcoal-bed on the grate

A, N
A, N

X, I, D, N
=

=
=
=

= x
= I
= D

To verify this finding some more experiments were carried out

with the downdraft stove-II using smaller woodblocks of size
20*20*27,5 mm. Figure 3.7 again represents the CO/C0 2 ratio's of
the flue gases as a function of time. The same phenomena are
noticed in this case. But one thing is very striking here. With
the increase of the charging intervals, the peak height and width
of CO/C0 2 ratio's increased very sharply. It has been observed
during the experiment that, at the end of each charging interval,
the fuel bed became partially exhausted and some empty space
appeared on the grate. This means that very little fuel is
available, in which case there is very little C0 2

resulting in

an increase of the CO/C0 2 ratio. But the absolute quatities of CO

are still at an acceptable level ( range: 0 - 0.7 Vol%). After
subsequent charging of fresh wood, again the CO/C0 2 ratio fell
down. To verify this, one experiment has been carried out with 20
woodblocks/240 seconds. The CO/C0 2 ratio's of this experiment are
plotted at the top of figure 3.7. It was observed that at the end
of each charging interval, no empty space appeared on the grate
and the CO/C0 2 ratio's remained very low.

9
0
9
~

C\J

0
9

u
0
u
'-

81120

0
9
4/60

0
9
2 130

0
0

10

20

30

40

50

60

TIME (MIN)

Figure 3.7:

CO/C0 2 ratio in the flue gases as a function of time for

different charging intervals (wood block size =
20M20M27.5 mm).

22

It was also noticed that, during the experiment due to high power
output, sometimes flames appeared at the top of the chimney. At
that time the flue gas collection point in the chimney was about
20 cm from the top (see figure 2.3), and took in unburnt gas. So
the CO/C0 2 peaks which appear at the top of the figure (20
blocks/240 s) are not indicative of complete combustion. We
conclude that it is possible to bring down the CO/C0 2 ratio's by
proper adjustment of the charging intervals.

3.4 Effect of Wood Species

Burning characteristics of wood depend on the chemical
composition and some physical properties of the wood species.
To determine the combustion characteristics of wood species,
three experiments have been carried out using three wood species
viz. White Fir, Oak and Beech. The results are listed in table
IV. It has not been entirely possible to use the same size of
0.06

,...,

b, Vol% C02

Vo!%

02

I
r

0.04

,-,

I L.V

Vo!% CC

+
6

C'~

r;

15

'o~

>

0~

10

_I

>

(\!

0.02

0~

_J

>

0.00

White f 1r

Oak

Beech

WOOD SPECIES

Figure 3.8:

Concentration of co. C0 2 and 0 2 in the flue gases as a

function of wood species.

23

wood blocks in the three experiments because of non availability

of proper block size in Oak and Beech. But the nearest possible
sizes were used. The aimed charging rate for Oak and Beech could
not be maintained because of too high power output . While using
Oak and Beech in the experiment, the entire apparatus became red
hot . Figure 3.8 represents the concentrations of CO, C0 2 and 0 2
in the flue gases as a function of wood species. It is clearly
seen from the figure that the concentrations of C0 2 are 14.6% and
15.6% for Oak and Beech respectively. In case of White Fir, the
concentration is 7.4%. Similarly the concentration of oxygen, in
case of Oak and Beech, is much lower than that for White fir.
Figure 3 . 9 represents the CO/C0 2 ratio and excess air factor of
the flue gases as a function of wood species.
0.40

t=..
_,

Q E xcess air factpr

i
i

CO!C02

I
0.30

(\)

()

2...

II

0.20

0'

tr
2

()

0 .1 0

u
<t

i.L

a:
<[
if)

en
w

()

,;

E1

0.00 ~-----~------~-------' 0

Oak

Beech

WOOD SPECIES

Figure 3.9:

CO/C0 2 ratio and excess air factor in the flue gases as a

function of wood species.

The CO/C0 2 ratio's show not much difference among the wood
species. But the excess air factor is much lower in case of Oak
and Beech. The lowest excess air factor recorded in this
investigation for Beech is 1.38.

24

TABLE IV:EFFECT OF VOOD SPECIES

Secondary air by-pass: half open

Sl.
Kr.

food
species

Vo lame/
surface
area(cm}

1 Vhite Fir

0.367

Oak

Beech

Charging Po11er
rate
output
{blocks/s) {kY}

Average flue gas composition

Excess
air
co
C02
CO/C02 factor
02
(Yol. 7.) (Vol. 7.) (Yol. i.)
('!.)

lemarks u

5.58

0.017

7.44

13.27

0.257

2.87

X, D, N

0.295

2/30 1/30 * 5.68

0.013

14.58

5.47

0.083

1.46

X, I, D, N

0.295

2/30 1/30 * 6.42

0.052

15.57

5.09

0. 269

1.38

x,

2/30

*Due

I ' D, N

to high ppwer output, the aimed charging rate could not be maintained and consequently the
charging rate was lowered

**

Smell in the flue gases

No smell in the flue gases
Inflamability of the flue gases
Presence of dust particles in the flue gases
Absence of dust particles in the flue gases
Accumulation of charcoal_bed on the grate
No accumulation of charcoal bed on the grate

= s
= x
= I
= D
= A
= c
= N

3.5 Effect of Secondary Air By-pass

In the downdraft stove, the flow of air, combustion gases and
fuel are all in the same direction. In the present design, there
is a provision for secondary air in the shape of a by-pass
(section 2.2). To determine its influence on the quality of
combustion, some experiments have been carried out which are
listed in table V. Figure 3.10 represents the concentrations of
CO, C0 2 and 0 2 in the flue gases as a function of secondary air
by-pass setting (open, half open and closed).

0.020

+ Vol%

CO

2C,

,6 Vol% C02

02

Vo110

I
I

~I

0.015

1 '.':

,-

u
'0:!?.
_J

>

0.010

-l

10

>

,,c
0

u
0.005

>

OPEN

HALF OPEN

CLOSED

SECONDARY AIR BY-PASS

Figure 3.10: Concentration of CO, C0 2 and 0 2 in the flue gases as a

function of secondary air by-pass setting.

The figure shows that there is not much difference among the
concentrations of C0 2 and 0 2 for different by-pass settings.
However, the concentration of CO in the case of a closed
secondary air by-pass is 0.003%, which is little lower than that
of the other two settings. Figure 3.11 represents the CO/C0 2
ratio and excess air factor of the flue gases as a function of
different secondary air by-pass settings.

26

::<

TABLE V: EFFECT OF SECONDAIY All BY-PASS

Vood species: Yhite Fir
Charging rate {block/s): 2/30
Volume per surface area (c): 0.367

SL.
Nr.

Seco~dary

air

by-pa~~

open

2 half open
3

closed

loer Average flae ga~ copo~ition

oat pat
co
{kY}
C02
CO/C02
02
(7.)
{fol.'!.} {Vol. i.) (Vol. i.)

Exce~~

air
factor

le11ark~

5.44

0.009

8.30

12.32

0.120

2.57

X, D, N

5.58

0.016

7.44

13.27

0.257

2.87

X, D, N

5.57

0.003

9.18

11.30

0.030

2.33

X, D, N

- Smell in the flue gases

No smell in the flue gases
Inf lamability of the flue gases
Presence of dust particles in the flue gases
Absence of dust particles in the flue gases
Accumulation of charcoal- bed on the grate
No accumulation of charcoal-bed on the grate

=
=

s
x

= I
= D
=
=

O.S O

+ COIC02
/::,.

E xc ess

i'l''

fac l ( r

~ ~

0.40

0.30
C\J

u
....._
0

~I 3

0 .20

/.

0 . 10

0.00 ~-----~------~-----~

OPEN

HALF OPEf''\J

(!

CLOSED

SECOr'-JDARY AIR B Y -P A SS

Figure 3.11: CO/C0 2 and excess air factor in the flue gases as a
function of the secondary air by-pass setting.

It is clearly observed from the figure that the CO/C0 2 ratio is

much lower, and the excess air factor a little lower when the
secondary air by-pass is closed. The results obtained by
variation of secondary air by-pass, are not clearly
understandable. So it might be concluded that the secondary air
by-pass in this stove has no influence on the combustion of wood.

3.6 Effect of Power Output

According to the definition of the power output, (equation 3.2),
it can be easily changed either by changing the quantity per
charge or the charging interval. More commonly the C0 2 content in
the flue gases is used as a scale in power output variation.
Power output is another important factor in woodburning devices .
To determine its influence on the quality of combustion, some
experiments have been carried out (see table VI . ) The power

28

TABLE VI: EFFRCT OF POVRR OUTPUT

Vood species: Vhitc Fir
Voluc per surface area (cm): 0.367
Secondary air by-passs: closed
Po1Jer Charging
Sl. output rate
Kr. {kV} {block/s}

Average flue gas composition

co

C02
CO/C02
02
{Yol. 7.) {Yol. 7.) {Yol. 7.)
(7.)

Excess
air
factor

lemarks n

5.57

2/30

0.003

9.18

11.30

0.030

2.33

X, A, N

6.73

3/30 *

0.007

12.93

7.85

0.054

1. 73

x,

7.32

4/30 *

0.006

11.58

8.31

0.054

1.85

A, N

X, I, D, N

Due to high power output, the aimed charging rate could not be maintained and
consequently the charging rate was lowered.

**

Smell in the flue gases

No smell in the flue gases
Inf lamability of the flue gases
Presence of dust particles in the flue gases
Absence of dust particles in the flue gases
Accumulation of charcoal-bed on the grate
No accumulation of charcoal-bed on the grate

= s
= x
= I
= D
= A
= c
=

output was varied from 5.6 - 7.3 kW. It has not been possible to
bring the power output below 5.6 kW or above 7.3 kW with this
particular size of woodblocks and charging rate because the power
output will be too low and too high respectively and impossible
to control. Figure 3.12 represents the effect of power output on
the carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide and oxygen content of the
flue gases as a function of time .

0.015

+ Vol% co
(\j

!:::, V o l% C02

0.0 10

:-:'

0 Vol% 0 2

u
0~

_J

>

0.00 5

(\J

G
~
o

...J

>

POWER OUTPUT (kW)

Figure 3.12: Concentration of CO, C0 2 and 0 2 in the flue gases as a

function of power output.

With the increase of power output both the concentration of CO

and C0 2 increase. But the concentration of CO is very small. Even
at the highest power output of 7.3 kW (CO= 0.006%). The
concentration of oxygen in the flue gases decreases with the
increase in power output, which is obvious. According to Bussmann
(Bussmann et al., 1985), the C0 2 increases proportionally when
the power output increases by change of mass weight. But when a
change in time interval was used for this purpose, similar
behaviour was not observed. The first observation is also in
agreement with this investigation. Figure 3.13 represents the
effect of power output on the CO/C0 2 ratio and excess air factor

30

of the flue gases. With the increase of power output, the CO/C0 2
ratio slightly increased. It is very interesting to note that at
a power output of 5.6 kW, the CO/C02 ratio was 0.030%, but even
at the highest power output of 7.3 kW it was 0.054%. The
difference in CO/C02 ratio is still very low. In most of the
other woodburning devices, with the increase of power output,
this ratio increases sharphly. The excess air factor also
decreases with an increase of the power output. The lowest value
is 1.73.
0.30

3.00

+ COIC02
!:::,.

E xcess arr factor

2.40

c::

f(j

0.20

1.80

(\J

(j

<!

---..

(j

<!

LL

1.20
0. 10

(./)
lf)

(j

0.60

~__+--t
0.00

0.00
4

POWER OUTPUT (kW)

Figure 3. 13: CO/C02 ratio and excess air factor in the flue gases as a
function of different power outputs.

Figure 3.14 shows the CO/C02 ratio's in the flue gases of various
burning devices viz. wood, gas, kerosene, coal etc . along with
the downdraft stove, as a function of the power output. It is
clearly shown that the downdraft stove has very low CO/C0 2
ratio's even at a power output of 7.3 kW, which is even much
lower than the figure allowed for gas burners.

31

10

~,~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~.

- - - - - - -

-- /"'

-- - - - - -- -

;.f.
/

./

o/

f-

<t

(\!

u
u
'-

POWER OUTPUT (kW)

Figure 3.14: CO/C0 2 ratio in the flue gases as a function of the power
output, for various burning devices.
--4= Downdraft stove;
= Cas appliances;
= Kerosene burners;
- =Anthracite burners;
=Domestic space heaters (P max):
.
=Domestic space heaters (P ma.x/2);
Woodburning cookstoves, shielded fire type
~= Combustion chamber diameter = 20cm;
-o= Combustion chamber diameter = 25cm;
-0= Combustion chamber diameter = 30cm.

3.7 Calculation of the Carbon Monoxide Concentration in an

enclosed Space
In order to determine the pollution caused by carbon monoxide,
while firing the downdraft stove in an enclosed space, the
following formula has been used to calculate the CO concentration
in the atmosphere as a function of time (de Vries et al .. 1973).

c=

Q K (1 - e-Rt)
co

VR

Where: C
Qco

= CO
= CO

(3.4)

100

concentration in the atmosphere

(%)

emission

(m3/h)

32

= Inhomogeneity

= Air exchange
v = Space volume
t
= time

(-)

factor

-1

rate

(h

(mo)
(h)

= 0 means a
K = 1, means

The inhomogeneity factor K varies between 0.4 - 1. K

complete exhaustion of combustion products, whereas

homogeneous mixing of combustion products with air but in

practice this never happens. However K has been taken 0 . 4
(Sulilatu, 1985). The values of Rand V are taken as 2 and 40m 3
respectively. The experiment taken as an example for calculation
of the CO concentration in the kitchen atmosphere, is the same
one which was taken for explaining the general behaviour of the
downdraft stove. For determining the CO concentration in the
atmosphere some calculation was done and the results listed in
table VI I.

Stove
type

Powe.r

Consumed aJ2

aJ

OUtp.Lt

IDOod

(kW)

kg/h

Downdraft

5.58

1.22

9.18 0.003 0.465 4.13.10

metal

0.84

9. 1

Table VII:

g/h

ppm
/h

'"'/h

-4

0.36

41

0.036

10
893

Concentration of CO in the kitchen atmosphere

The main aim of this section is to determine the pollution of the

downdraft stove by its CO emission and compare it with the
results of a metal stove with relatively good combustion
characteristics. Sulilatu (1985) determined the concentration of
CO in the atmosphere for a metal stove. Figure 3.15 represents
the build-up of the CO concentration as a function of time. The
figure clearly shows that in case of the metal stove, CO
concentration of 0.008% and 0.016% are reached in about 15 and 60
minutes respectively. Within about 40 minutes it exceeds the MAC
value. In the case of the downdraft stove, the CO concentrations

33

w
0::

I
o_

U)

\
C1.Ci 2r-=.+

!
r

I-

<

. ,., ,.....

1.

- r\ L
0 .U
- 1

./

I
i

v . ,......., -

"-...

/
/

( :.(}:; :/'--_ __:._~~=========- - - -- - - -- 0 -.

:J
._ .,_
20
c ~
:

E .x::.cs~.r=~

Figure 3.15: Build-up of carbon monoxide concentration in the kitchen

atmosphere as a function of time for two types of stoves.
1: Downdraft stove; 2: Metal stove.
MAC: Maximum Allowable Concentration

after 15 and 60 minutes are 0.00008 and 0 . 0001% respectively. It

is interesting to note that during the entire period of operation
of the stove, CO concentrations remain far below the toxic
concentration zone of the kitchen atmosphere .
Sulilatu stated that according to the National Air Quality
Standards for the USA, the maximum allowable concentrat i on of CO
for an exposure time of 1 hour, is 35 ppm . In the above
mentioned calculations for the downdraft stove, the CO
concentration only reaches 10 ppm in 1 hour .

34

4.
(i)

CONCLUSIONS
The downdraft stove in its present design, is very
sensitive to its operational variables.

(ii)

Woodblock size and charging intervals play an important

role in the clean combustion of wood.

(iii) With particular woodblock sizes and proper adjustment of

the fuel charging intervals, it is even possible to produce
clean combustion for longer periods at a power output of
7.3 kW (CO/C02
(iv)

= 0.006%)

in a small device .

Computations show that the CO emission of the downdraft

stove in an enclosed space (10ppm), remains well below the
maximum allowable concentration of 35ppm per hour exposure
time according to the National Air Quality Standard for the
USA.

(v)

When comparing various burning devices emission wise, the

performance of the downdraft stove is even better than gas
appliances.

(vi)

As the downdraft stove generates heat at a high

temperature. the construction material must be a good
quality ceramic. Some insulating material should also be
used to minimize the heat losses.

(vii) The principle of downdraft burning has enormous

applications both for industrial and domestic use. The
clean hot gases produced can be directly used in the
heating of food, such as in bread ovens. In that case much
fuel can be saved as compared to traditional ovens with
direct and indirect heating .
This design may also reduce the chimney lengths of the
presently used domestic and large scale cooking stoves,
which will make them cheaper and easier to maintain.
35

5.

REFERENCES

Bussmann, P .. Krishna Prasad, K.. and Sulilatu, F. (1985). On the

testing of woodburning cookstoves, Proceedings of the 3rd
Conference on Energy from Biomass, W. Palz, J . Coombs. and
D.O. Hall (eds.). Elsevier, London, United Kingdom.
Bussmann, P. (1988). Woodstoves, theory and applications in
developing countries. Thesis for obtaining a Ph.D degree at
the Eindhoven University of Technology, Eindhoven, The
Netherlands .
Krishna Prasad, K., Sangen, E .. and Visser, P. (1985).
Woodburning Cookstoves. In Advances in Heat Transfer, vol.
17. pp. 159 - 317. Academic Press Inc.
Smith, K.R. et al. (1984). Carbon Monoxide and Particles from
Cooking Stoves. Presented at the 3rd International Conference
on Indoor Air Quality and Climate. Stockholm.
Sulilatu, W.F. (1985). Danger Signals to Human Health. In From
Design to Cooking : Some Studies on Cookstoves. C.E.

Krist-Spit and D.J. van der Heeden (eds.). Woodburning Stove

Group, Eindhoven University of Technology, Eindhoven, The
Netherlands.
Vries, H. de and Bartholomeus, P.H.J. (1973). Gas en
Milieuhygiene, Gas 93.

36