The development of a mass producible, affordable and 'ugali proof' biogas stove for East African middle class households.

Abstract

This graduation thesis treats the design process of the development of a biogas stove for East African households. In East Africa more than 80% of the people cook on fossil fuels. Exposure to the exhaust fumes of this way of cooking is the fourth worst health risk in East Africa which is similar to the amount of deaths caused by malaria. SimGas installs biodigesters to middle class households in East Africa, which yields biogas which can be used for cooking, lighting or generating electricity. Currently, poor quality Chinese stoves are imported to East Africa and sold to the local market. However, SimGas wants to implement stoves which fit the East African demands better and represent the company inside the kitchen. The design process involves research executed in the Netherlands by desk research, communication with field experts by Skype and email and by visiting East African communities in the Netherlands. The CAD program Solidworks has been used for modeling the concept and a working prototype is embodied. The concept stove is mass producible (in East Africa as well) by using four production techniques, includes no screws and compared to the Chinese stoves realized a volume reduction of almost 40% and has only 2/3 the amount of parts. The main feature is that the stove is 'ugali proof', which means it is robust enough to resist the heavy forces that are involved in the East African 'cuisine'. Besides that, the stove is adapted to the East African cooking ware and habits, which can be found in the amount of space, the single and extra stable pan supports, the special double burner functionality for frying and using larger pans and the wide range of power control. Furthermore, thermal efficiency and corrosion resistance are improved and the stove is easily adapted to LPG or natural gas. The prototype consists of a frame, cover, eight pan supports, three burners, two mixing tubes and two valve systems. The proof of principles are demonstrated in a separate report.