Performance Evaluation of a Pressurized Cooking Stove Using Vegetable Cooking Oils as Fuel

Abstract

Liquid petroleum gas (LPG) and kerosene can be substituted by vegetable cooking oils (VCOs) as fuel using pressurized cooking stove. The higher of ignition values, density and viscosity of VCOs compared to other oils, such as kerosene was a basic consideration to modify the vegetable oil pressure stove (VOPS). The voPs design employed with spiral coil pipe line as oil preheater that was intended to reduce viscosity and ignition values of VCOs. The spiral coil pipe line in this VOPS will auto preaheat the oil to decrease its viscosity and to produce smaller droplets before being combusted. The performance indicators fuel/stove/vessel combination were conducted by measurements, calculations and experiments. The performance parameters were represented by fuel characteristic, oil droplet diameter, combustion flame and fuel consumption.  The main purpose of this experiment was to study of the use of VCOs as alternative fuels as well as combustion performance and economics evaluation. The experiment was conducted by using three kind of VCOs as fuel; used vegetable oil (UCO), crude VCO and fresh UCO on VOPS. The VCOs could be burned in a red bluish flame with a maximum flame temperature of flue gases of 1100 °C, 1042 °C and 920 °C, respectively. Atomization of all VCOs could produce fuel droplets diameter of 155 µm-650 µm and lower viscosity and lower ignition values of the fuels. The efficiency of the VOPS was 20%-32% calculated by the fuel consumption rate (FCR) of ±1.50 L/h and gave the economic values were cheaper than using kerosene or LPG as fuel.