Cyra Bishop, Jeffery Smith, and Dr. Matthew Jones, Mechanical Engineering Department

Project Purpose

The purpose of this research project is to explore Peruvian social and cultural behaviors that typically prevent successful improved cookstove adoption in resource-limited settings as well as suggest ways to educate locals about the benefits of improved cookstoves. This will be done by constructing a cost-effective, easy-to-use gas-detection sensor system capable of measuring concentrations of harmful gases released from biomass cookstoves typically found in Peruvian communities.

Project Importance

Roughly 2.5 billion people use biomass cookstoves for cooking cooking and heating every day in developing areas [1]. Unfortunately, combustion within these cookstoves is usually incomplete, causing the emission of large quantities of particulate matter and injurious gases. Inefficient burning of biomass has staggering implications for households. Household health risks including non-communicable diseases such as lung cancer and pneumonia have been directly related to indoor burning pollution [2]. The impact is especially strong on women and children, who are exposed to emissions while at home for extensive periods of time [3]. While extensive efforts have been made to develop improved cookstoves (ICS), experimentation has shown the need for continued research and development [4]. In particular, reliable measurements of CO, CO2, NO, and NO2 emissions are required to evaluate the performance of ICS during field tests. There are testing kits (PEMS) available through Aprovecho Research Center (ARC) [6]. However, PEMS lacks compatibility with recent software updates, and has a prohibitively high cost ranging from $10,000-$17,000, necessitating an alternate gas-detection system. Current testing kits are difficult to use and not readily available for communities [1]. Generally, a third party tests the stoves ($8000 service fee from ARC) [6]. The process of reaching out to a third party makes it challenging for communities to decide for themselves if they want to upgrade to better stoves. We want to combat this challenge by designing a sensor system that will test the CO, CO2 and PM emissions while being much more affordable for communities to purchase (under $500) and easy enough for even young children to set up and use. Having this system available for easy use will provide the communities a tool to learn about and evaluate the efficiency of their cookstoves, thereby gaining insight and making informed decisions as to how to improve the overall health and environmental safety of their living areas.

Project Profile Body

The first step is to design and construct the sensor system. The design and construction of an improved gas-sensing system will require careful planning and organization. The main requirement of the sensor is to affordably and consistently measure concentrations of CO, CO2, and PM in the exhaust stream of a biomass cookstove. It is expected that the sensing system will be suitable for field use. Consequently, it will be relatively low-cost and easily repairable, maintainable, and upgradeable. As illustrated in the figure above, preliminary plans in which a low-cost computer (Raspberry Pi) is connected through an analogue-to-digital-converter (ADC) to each gas sensor have been developed. Emissions from a biomass stove will be pumped through a filter and through the sensor box. The signals from the sensors are transferred from the ADC to the Raspberry Pi, where a custom Python program processes and records the data. Live readings may be viewed on a monitor connected to the Raspberry Pi as the data is collected and processed. We are seeking this ORCA grant as funding for these materials to construct the sensor system.

The second step will be to create a user manual for the Peruvian users concerning the design and operating procedures of the gas-detection system. This eliminates the need for a third party to provide direct service or instructions.

The third step will be to gather emissions data from 20 cookstoves in the Peruvian communities of Porcón and Puno (10 cookstoves/community). During data acquisition, we will train local users how to operate the sensor system to evaluate their cookstoves. We will then ask them a series of survey questions relating to their common behaviors associated with using their cookstove as well as their experience with using our sensor system. A similar study done in Kenya, Peru and Nepal conducted similar in-depth interviews and direct observations of open-fire stove use [8]. The remaining funds of the ORCA grant will go towards travel costs for Peru.

Anticipated Academic Outcome

We anticipate presenting our research on the gas-detection system will be given at the 2018 Utah Conference of Undergraduate Research (UCUR). Subsequent testing and analysis of ICS will heavily rely on data collected using this system. These studies will be published in journals such as Energy for Sustainable Development and presented at annual conferences such as the IEEE Global Humanitarian Technical Conference (GHTC). Cyera is using this project as her BYU Honors’ thesis and will present and defend her thesis before various professors and other scholars in the engineering department.

Qualifications

Jeffery is a fourth-year Mechanical Engineering (ME) student and has performed exceptionally well in the ME Mechatronics course, which has given him all the necessary skills to construct this sensor system. Cyera is a third-year Electrical Engineering (EE) student. She has experience with embedded system programming, C++, electronic circuits, signals and systems, and fundamentals of microelectronics.

Dr. Jones is an expert in the field of heat transfer and thermodynamics. He has worked directly with ICS for over 6 years, resulting in several presentations at international conferences and 6 scholarly papers. This work has been funded by the EPA and by the Edwards Lifesciences Foundation. He earned his PhD from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 1993.

Project Timetable

● Completed manufacturing of the sensor box and wiring Nov 2017
● Updated and working code Dec 2018
● Calibrated sensors Feb 2018
● System tested and functional Mar 2018
● Construction and operating procedures documented, user manual made Apr 2018
● Research test conducted in Porcón and Puno, Peru May 2018

Scholarly Sources

[1] World Energy Outlook 2006, (Energy for Cooking in Developing Countries), 419-420. (2006). Retrieved October 26, 2017, from https://www.iea.org/publications/freepublications/publication/cooking.pdf.
[2] International Energy Agency. (World Energy Outlook 2010) IEA/OECD, Paris, France, 2010 https://www.iea.org/publications/freepublications/publication/cooking.pdf
[3] Muchiri, L. (2008). Gender and Equity in Bioenergy Access and Delivery in Kenya . Policy Innovation Systems for Clean Energy Security. Retrieved September 10, 2017, from http://www.energia.org/cms/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/65-Gender-and-equity-in-bioenergy-access-and-delivery-in-Kenya.pdf.
[4] J. Jetter and P. Kariher, “Solid-fuel household cook stoves: Characterization of performance and emissions”, Biomass and Bioenergy, vol. 33, no. 2, pp. 294-305, 2009.
[5] Rhodes, E. L., & Dreibelbis, R. (2014). Behavioral Attitudes and Preferences in Cooking Practices with Traditional Open-Fire Stoves in Peru, Nepal, and Kenya: Implications for Improved Cookstove Interventions [Abstract]. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 11(10).
[6] Lab & Field Emissions Equipment. (n.d.). Retrieved October 27, 2017, from http://aprovecho.org/portfolio-item/emissions-equipment/