Steady state heat transfer modeling of solid fuel biomass stove: Part 1

A steady state heat transfer model is developed to predict performance of biomass stove with varying operating (composition, particle size and moisture of fuel, air flow, ambient conditions) and design conditions (size, shape and material of combustion chamber, pot size). Model is validated for a commercial stove (Harsha) for test conditions. The burn rate and power delivery are estimated as 3.77 × 10−4 kg/s and 6.58 kW, respectively with air supply of 6.47 × 10−6 m3/s resulting 1003 K flame temperature. The model is considered validated as the simulated results (24% efficiency and 17 min boiling time) are similar to experimental results reported in literatures. Major components of heat transfer from fuel combustion are primary air as 33%, unburned charcoal as 25%, cooking pot as 23%, others as 14% and combustion chamber as 6%. About 811 W of heat is used for self sustaining of combustion process. Highest share of primary air justifies the importance of exhaust heat recovery. The share of useful heat is 94.91% from heat of combustion and 5.08% from combustion chamber. The model is expected to be useful for new design, assessment of existing design and performance evaluation of any kind of solid fuel combustion device including biomass stove.