1. Aero-stove

AERO-STOVE (A Cellphone-Charger Assisted Stove) Frengie G. Botoy Researcher

Specific Objectives: 1. Determine the significant difference in the consumption of cooking two cups of rice using aero-stove from cooking fire.

wood in in an open

2. Determine the significant difference in the duration of cooking two cups of rice using aero-stove, kerosene-fueled stove and LPG-fueled stove. 3. Gather significant evidence that cooking in aero-stove is economically advantageous than cooking in an open fire, kerosene-fueled stove and LPG-fueled stove.

ABSTRACT Firewood and biomass have been used in cooking since the beginning of civilization. Today, over 2 billion people find it a problem in cooking on timeconsuming and inefficient wood-fueled stoves. Others who can afford in buying modern cooking appliances such as rice cooker and electric stove hardly able to sustain its energy maintenance. Electricity, LPG and kerosene are commonly used energy sources that are simply costly. It becomes a burden on one’s purse. Moreover, excessive chemical and heat emissions from these fuels may lead to health problems and contribute to air pollution, a threat to the natural environment. Most Filipino families of low income preferred less expensive fuel for cooking than buying expensive commercial ones despite of the inconvenience. This practice is not only popular to Philippines but also to other developing countries. People are still searching for remedy on this problem. With the researcher’s desire to help this very common problem, he ably made an improvised stove that is quite efficient and less expensive with regards to firewood consumption. He had noticed that merely blowing produced more fire. Out from this curiosity challenged him to invent the improvised stove. He designed a stove with continuous supply of oxygen using an electric blower instead of blowing the air manually. He called this improvised stove as AeroStove, a two-part stove made of a pugon out from an empty paint can and an improvised air blower powered by an electricity through a cellphone charger. In this case, cellphone charger became a dual-purpose- for charging a cellphone and for cooking. The researcher performed an experiment by cooking two cups of rice using the aero-stove. A comparison was made by using the LPG-fueled stove and kerosene-fueled stove. The results of five trials were analyzed and recorded. It showed that there were no significant differences in the cooking time duration among the three set-ups. But there was a significant difference in cooking the two cups of rice using aero-stove than cooking in an open fire as both fueled by firewood. This showed that the improvised stove is more efficient. Finally, the researcher found out the significant evidence that cooking in aero-stove is economically advantageous than cooking in an open fire, kerosene-fueled stove and LPG-fueled stove.

How it works? Aero-stove is a good gasifier. It has the ability to utilize the maximum energy stored in every piece of firewood, charcoal and any biomass by burning it well

because the improvised blower powered by a cellphone charger produced enough air to keep the fire constantly glowing. Data and Results Table 1 Amount of firewood consumed in cooking two cups of rice (grams)

TRIALS

Amount of Firewood Consumption (GRAMS) Aero-stove

Open-fire

Trial 1

260

350

Trial 2

250

380

Trial 3

250

350

Trial 4

250

360

Trial 5

250

360

The graph shows the varying amount of firewood consumption in cooking two cups of rice in grams using an aero-stove and in an open fire. It reflects that from trial 1 to trial 5, cooking in an aero-stove consumes firewood within the range of 250-260 grams. On the other hand, cooking the two cups of rice in an open-fire is within the range of 350-380 grams in mass. This difference indicates that aerostove consumes less amount of fuel than cooking in an open-fire. Thus, an aerostove can save more energy fuel such as firewood.

Table 2

Time taken in cooking two cups of rice (minutes)

Duration of Cooking (MINUTES) TRIALS

KeroseneLPG-fueled fueled Stove Stove

Aero-stove

Open-fire

Trial 1

16

20

16

14

Trial 2

15

22

15

15

Trial 3

15

20

16

15

Trial 4

16

21

15

15

Trial 5

16

21

15

14

The graph shows the differences in the time taken in cooking the two cups of rice in grams using an aero-stove, open fire cooking, kerosene-fueled stove and LPG-fueled stove. It reflects that from trial 1 to trial 5, cooking in an aero-stove has the duration of 15-16 minutes. On the other hand, cooking the two cups of rice in an open-fire has the duration of 20-22 minutes. Cooking both in kerosenefueled stove and in LPG-fueled stove has an average duration of 15 minutes that is shorter in time as compared to open fire cooking. The differences indicate that aero-stove can be compared to both kerosene-fueled stove and LPG-fueled stove as to time duration is concerned. Moreover, it is convenient to cook using the aero-stove with lesser duration than cooking in an open fire. Thus, an aerostove can save more time in cooking than cooking in an open fire.

Table 3 Cost per cooking (pesos) using the four set-ups

Cost per Cooking (PESOS) TRIALS

Aero-stove Firewood + electricity

KeroseneLPG-fueled fueled Stove Stove

Open-fire

Trial 1

1.32

1.75

4.32

3.08

Trial 2

1.27

1.90

4.05

3.30

Trial 3

1.27

1.75

4.32

3.30

Trial 4

1.27

1.80

4.05

3.30

Trial 5

1.27

1.80

4.05

3.08

The graph shows the results of the cost per cooking the two cups of rice in grams using the four set-ups: aero-stove, open-fire cooking, kerosene-fueled stove and LPG-fueled stove. It reflects that from trial 1 to trial 5, cooking in an aero-stove costs 1.27-1.32 pesos. Cooking the two cups of rice in an open-fire costs 1.75-1.90 pesos. On the other hand, cooking in a kerosene-fueled stove costs 4.05-4.32 pesos while in LPG stove, it costs 3.08-3.30 pesos. These data means that aero-stove is less expensive. Next cheaper to it is cooking in an open fire. While cooking in the kerosene-fueled stove and LPG-fueled stove is quite expensive. Thus, aero-stove cooking can save money than cooking in an open fire, kerosene-fueled stove and LPG-fueled stove.