GUWAHATI: Researchers from the Indian Institute of Technology, Guwahati (IIT-G) have developed a technology to make cook stoves energy-efficient, economical and eco-friendly.
“Burners used in these cook stoves are based on porous medium combustion (PMC) technology, capable of exhibiting enhanced combustion characteristics,” a statement from IIT-Guwahati issued here on Tuesday said.
The research team of IIT-G led by P. Muthukumar has developed porous radiant burners (PRBs) for various cook stoves with advanced combustion technology known as porous media combustion.
“These indigenously developed cook stoves are assisted with specially-designed PRBs that yield better performance as compared to their conventional counterparts in all three fronts of energy-saving, emissions and overall cost,” Muthukumar said.
The findings of these developments have been published in reputed journals and also patented.
The newly developed PRBs can be effectively used for fuels like LPG, biogas and kerosene for domestic as well as community/commercial cooking.
“These PRBs operate on the principle of porous media combustion (PMC), where the reaction is entrapped in a porous matrix due to which, the heat loss to the surroundings is restricted and a higher amount of heat is transferred to the load,” he said.
“The prototypes needed for the invention have been developed in-house and are rigorously tested against available (BIS) standards for cook stoves. Fuel saving from these cook stoves is highly promising,” he added.
The research team plans to commercialise the technology within a year and corroborate with industrial partners to extend the reach of these cook stoves in the Indian market.
The team believes that the work will have a global impact on the burner-based applications and their multi-billion-dollar market worldwide.
The project has been financed through IMPRINT, a technology development initiative of the Union ministry of human resource development (MHRD) and department of science and technology (DST).