Karnataka - Mysore   

Say goodbye to firewood

By R. Krishna Kumar

FOR HEALTHIER KITCHENS: Anila, the eco-friendly stove. — Photo: M.A. SRIRAM

MYSORE: This invention could herald a silent revolution in rural areas and help reduce the use of firewood.

The brainchild of U.N. Ravikumar, an environmentalist and engineer who the Director of the Centre for Appropriate Rural Technologies (CART) at the National Institute of Engineering here, the invention will ensure that women do not inhale smoke while cooking.

Anila, as it is called, is a smokeless stove that uses bio-residues available in plenty in rural areas. Mr. Ravikumar told The Hindu that the stove burns coconut frond, coir, baggase, husk, groundnut shells, areca waste, mulberry leaves and similar agro-wastes. And given the shortage of conventional fuels such as kerosene and LPG, the new stove will be a boon to people in rural areas.

The stove produces no smoke and the by-product of the agro-wastes that are burned in the stove can also be used for cooking or compressed into briquettes or pellets and sold as fuel. This will have multiple benefits, said Mr. Ravikumar. People in rural areas cook under poor ventilation or use stoves that produce more smoke than heat. The smoke affects the respiratory tract of women, he said.

Conventional stoves used in most rural homes are dependent on firewood for which trees have to be felled. The new stove addresses each of these problems and also helps generate income if the by-product of the fuel is compressed and sold. "I see tremendous potential and a tiny cottage industry of briquettes being made in each house that will also help create wealth, Mr. Ravikumar said.

Anila consists of two cylinders of different diameters, and the inner cylinder has a conical grate at the bottom. The fuel is placed in the grate. Nearly 3 kg of fuel can be filled in each charge. About three-quarters of the inner cylinder is packed with about 1 kg of hard woody biomass and five to six stones are placed on the top as the tar generated during gasification cracks and burns when it strikes the hot stove. This reduces pollution and improves combustion.

Each charge burns for nearly two to three hours and it is possible to add any bio-waste fuel or briquettes into the combustion chamber to keep the flame alive for another 30 minutes if required. The stove remains hot for an additional 30 minutes after the burning stops and this can be used to keep food warm, Mr. Ravikumar said.

The stove can also be used for the midday meal scheme in rural schools and obviate the need of supplying LPG cylinders as locally available bio-wastes can be used for the purpose. Mr. Ravikumar can be contacted at CART, National Institute of Engineering (ph. 0821-5250502).

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