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SWOSTHEE Single Pan Wood Stove



Dear Stovers:

I hope you saw this article in the recent issue of BUN-INDIA copied to the
bioenergy list. It can be found at http://144.16.73.100/~mukunda/home.html

Has anyone used one? How does the performance compare to other stoves? 

Tom
===============
SWOSTHEE 

Single  Pan  Wood Stove  Of High efficiency A Fuel Efficient
Portable Cookstove,
Svathi Bhogle 

Swosthee is a portable metallic single pan stove designed at
the  Indian Institute of  Science, Bangalore.  It has a heat
utilisation  efficiency  of 32 %  which is the highest among
all single pan stoves in India today. Even by a conservative
estimate, usage of high  efficiency stoves like Swosthee can
conserve  84  million  tonnes  of firewood annually in India
alone. Some other salient features of the stove are: 

o It is a multifuel stove capable of burning a variety of biomass like
firewood,coconut shells, cowdung cakes, twigs and briquetted
agricultural residue.   
o  Reduced emissions (CO - less than 20 PPM at the operator level and
Suspended Particulate Matter in the range of 1.0- 1.5 mg/m3).   A power
input of 3.5 kW.
o  Easy  ignition and maintenance.
o  Versatility -The stove can be used with vessels of all sizes
and  shapes and  is suitable for cooking all types of common
dishes.  

The Swosthee stove is designed by a team of scient-
ific workers who do not use firewood burning stove as a part
of their daily routine. Their objective was to design astove
with a maximum heat utilisation efficiency,  minimum release
of hazardous emissions and as user friendly as could be per-
ceived  by  them. A  survey  was therefore carried out among
rural, semi-rural and urban households  to obtain first hand
information  on  stove  usage,  cooking  practices  and user
response to Swosthee stoves.A near unanimous conclusion from
the  survey was  that the Swosthee stove saves fuel and time
and  also  emits  significantly  less smoke than traditional
stoves.  All  types  of  users found the stove to be sturdy,
stable and easy to ignite and maintain. Other inferences that
can be drawn from the survey are:

  The  Swosthee  stove is  ideal for  a  family  size of 5-6
  members.
  The  Swosthee stove is especially suited for houses having
  roofs made of reinforced concrete,asbestos or other sheets
  and thatch.
  The Swosthee stove has a high acceptability among househo-
  lds living in urban slums  where  the size of the house is
  small.
The  survey  also  categorically confirmed that the two most
important attributes that a potential user is looking for in
a cooking device is  a  reduction in  the cooking time and a
saving in the fuel bill. Swosthee stoves will meet the cook-
ing requirements of a variety of users not only in India but
elsewherein the world as well besides reducing deforestation
and emission of hazardous emissions.

For further information or correspondence please Contact:

Mrs. Gayathri  V 
Combustion Gasification & Propulsion 
Laboratory, [CGPL]
Indian Institute of Science
Bangalore 560 012, India


E-mail: gayathri@aero.iisc.ernet.in
Fax: +91-80-3341683
Tel : +91-80-3348536, +91-80-3092338


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Tom Miles, Jr.                               	        Thomas R. Miles
tmiles@teleport.com			        Consulting Design Engineer
http://www.teleport.com/~tmiles/   	        5475 SW Arrowwood Lane
Tel (503) 591-1947 Fax (503) 292-2919        Portland, Oregon, USA 97225-1353