Towards the design of high efficiency woodstoves

The paper describes the various methods that lead to the development of high efficiency woodstoves. The main design constraints that need to be adhered to are the reduction in fuel consumption, keeping the power output higher than, or the same as, that of the traditional system, and the incorporation of user friendly aspects such as low weight, low floor area, low cost, etc. The parameters that affect the stove performance most are the combustion chamber parameters, the fuel parameters and the self-draught parameters. The effects of these are discussed in detail. Some design considerations, such as matching of the heat transfer coefficients, matching of the heat source and the heat exchanger, maximization of the area of contact between the vessel and the flame, and the choice of chamber diameter are also described. Discouraging the use of clay vessels and encouraging the use of grates in traditional stoves can alone decrease the fuel consumption to about half of the present consumption besides increasing the power output. The results of this study will provide working information for stove designers towards the development of high efficiency woodstoves.