Low-Cost Catalytic Biomass Cookstove for Improved Indoor Air Quality

据估计，约有25亿人，即世界人口的三分之一，依靠生物质燃料做饭。生物质炉灶的排放会导致全球气候变化、室内/当地空气质量问题以及相关的健康影响。特别是，与生物质炉灶相关的室内空气质量问题对急性呼吸道感染率有显著影响。最近开发的强制通风和“火箭”炉有所改进，但不太可能始终符合世卫组织的室内空气质量准则。一氧化碳、未燃烧的碳氢化合物（包括甲醛等空气有毒物质）和颗粒物（PM）的排放尤其成问题。与汽车排放控制的发展类似，先进的生物质炉灶已经发展到包含氧化催化剂是合乎逻辑的下一步的地步。然而，广泛使用的贵金属氧化催化剂价格昂贵。相反，我们建议包括一个低成本的替代氧化催化剂，集成到炉子。该催化剂最初是作为柴油机开发的， 碳烟氧化催化剂，已经在我们的实验室中合成和测试，并且已经证实了其对黑碳颗粒的氧化活性。该计划将涉及的进一步催化剂开发活动包括优化组分比，确定CO和未燃碳氢化合物的氧化活性，以及在实际燃烧应用中进行测试。为了最大化到锅的内容物的热传递，所提出的炉子设计还包括允许微调空气流、燃料/空气混合和热释放的设计特征。拟议的第一阶段方法将在很大程度上依赖于计算流体动力学（CFD），快速原型和实验室测试。实验室测量的PM，CO和碳氢化合物的排放量将进行基线炉和原型低成本，催化炉。先进炉灶的商业化战略旨在在肯尼亚等发展中国家制造炉灶，并在那里销售炉灶。这种方法将降低制造成本并提供当地就业机会。与其他催化剂不同，所提出的催化剂不需要专门的湿化学方法来合成。相比之下，催化剂合成基本上与传统的玻璃制造相同，只需要一个熔炉和商品化学品。开发的所有阶段都将考虑当地的可制造性、维护和用户接受度。用户的接受程度将取决于当地的烹饪传统和当地生物量燃料的可变性。我们计划与CDC和全球清洁炉灶联盟密切合作，了解用户需求，并安排第二阶段的现场试验。

DESCRIPTION: An estimated 2.5 billion people, or about one-third of the world's population, rely on biomass fuel for cooking. Emissions from biomass cook stoves contribute to global climate change, indoor/local air quality issues, and related health effects. In particular, indoor ir quality issues related to biomass cook stoves contribute significantly to rates of acute respiratory infection. Recently developed forced air and "rocket" stoves offer improvements but are unlikely to consistently meet WHO guidelines for indoor air quality. Emissions of CO, unburned hydrocarbons (including air toxics like formaldehyde) and particulate matter (PM) are particularly problematic. Similar to the evolution of emissions controls for automobiles, advanced biomass cook stoves have progressed to the point where inclusion of an oxidation catalyst is the logical next step. However, the widely used noble-metal oxidation catalysts are prohibitively expensive. Instead, we propose the inclusion of a low-cost alternative oxidation catalyst that is integrated into the stove. The proposed catalyst, originally developed as a diesel soot oxidation catalyst, has previously been synthesized and tested in our laboratory, and its activity for oxidation of black carbon particles has been confirmed. Further catalyst development activities that will be addressed in this program include optimization of the constituent ratios, determining the activity for oxidation of CO and unburned hydrocarbons, and testing in a real-world combustion application. To maximize heat transfer to the contents of the pot, the proposed stove design also includes design features that allow fine tuning of the air flow, fuel/ai mixing, and heat release. The proposed Phase I approach will rely heavily on computational fluid dynamics (CFD), rapid prototyping, and laboratory testing. Laboratory measurements of PM, CO, and hydrocarbon emissions will be performed for both baseline stoves and the prototype low-cost, catalytic stove. The commercialization strategy for the advanced cook stove seeks to manufacture the stoves in developing countries like Kenya, where the stoves would be sold. This approach will lower manufacturing costs and provide local jobs. Unlike other catalysts, the proposed catalyst requires no specialized wet chemistry methods for its synthesis. In contrast, the catalyst synthesis is essentially the same as traditional glass making and requires only a furnace and commodity chemicals. All stages of the development will consider local manufacturability, maintenance, and user acceptance. User acceptance will depend on local cooking traditions and variability of local biomass fuels. We plan to work closely with the CDC and the Global Alliance for Clean Cook stoves to understand user needs and to arrange field trials in Phase II.