Comparison between Jatropha curcas seed stove and woodstove: Performance and effect on indoor air quality

•The JCS stove has higher thermal efficiency than traditional wood stove.•PM2.5 and CO related emission of JCS stove were much lower than those of wood stove.•The ventilation has a little affect to the JCS stove performance.•The JCS stove emissions were rich of EC, SO2-4 and NH+4.

Jatropha curcas has been introduced and sold as cook stove fuel in Indonesia since late 2010, after the progressive phasing-out of the subsidy for kerosene started in 2007. To review the reliability and probable health impacts of J. curcas Seed (JCS) stoves used for cooking, the standard water boiling test (WBT) was used to evaluate the stove's basic performance (thermal efficiency and specific fuel consumption) and the indoor air quality associated with its emissions and these parameters were compared with those of a traditional wood stove (WS). The emissions were analyzed using a CO monitor, photoelectric PM (particulate matter) monitors and the Sioutas Cascade Impactor to characterize the CO (carbon monoxide) concentration, temporal variations in PM mass concentrations and the mass size distributions from the stove emissions respectively.In general the JCS stove showed higher thermal efficiency and lower specific fuel consumption than the wood stove. Average indoor PM2.5 concentration at a cook site around a traditional wood stove was twelve times that around the JCS stove. Likewise, the JCS stove produced only about half of the indoor CO concentration compared to the wood stove emission. This suggests that replacing traditional wood stoves by JCS stoves reduces the exposure of cooks to PM2.5 and CO. Predominance of organic carbon in the collected aerosol 、during JCS stove combustion indicated that it resulted from the incomplete burning of organic matter in the seed. This study suggests that the JCS stove could be a promising substitute to the traditional wood stove. However the capacity of the stove, its re-fuelling method and tar produced should be improved and overcome to meet the practical needs of the rural cooking environment.