ABSTRACT

Energy requirement throughout the world is continuously increasing as the increase

in use of energy sources by population. The effect of has put heavy stresses on the

available source of energy generation. So in order to prevent the threat on present

conventional energy sources use of non-conventional energy sources will be the

solution. In this present work an attempt has been made in utilizing biogas and solar

energy to develop a portable hybrid stove. Hybrid stove consists of both biogas

burner and also solar stove. Biogas plant consists of a digester of 70 liters capacity

with suitable fittings and valves. Kitchen wastes were dumped into the digester for

the production of biogas. On the other hand we have solar powered induction stove.

Solar energy is collected with solar panels are stored in the battery
.This stored energy is utilized for the heating of induction coils in the hybrid stove. It

is observed from the manometer readings that the production of biogas takes place

for 12th day and maximum yield will be on 20th day. The solar energy production

will be high between 11am to 12.30 pm. This work proves to be a promising

technology for future energy demand and improve waste management. Hybrid stove

fabricated in this work is suitable for a small household daily cooking purpose.
Keywords: Solar plant, Biogas plant, Hybrid stove, Renewable energy sources,

Kitchen waste, solar energy.

INTRODUCTION

Biogas

Today Municipal solid waste (MSW) management becomes global issues concern

Worldwide and the “Waste-to-Energy (WTE)” concept is gaining more interest in

exploring this alternative renewable energy resource. In addition to being

renewable and sustainable, this type of energy resource must be environmentally

friendly. Anaerobic digestion is one of the promising technologies to accommodate

this requirement due to the advantage of producing fuel gas (methane) as well as

generating odor-free residues rich nutrients, which can be used as fertilizers.

Biogas is a fuel gas (CH4 and CO2) obtained by anaerobic fermentation of organic

materials like: manure, sewage sludge, municipal solid waste, biodegradable waste

and feedstock with the help of bacteria to breakdown materials to intermediates

such as alcohols and fatty acids and finally to methane. Biogas is usually used as

fuel gas, which can be burned directly for cooking, heating and lighting or can be

used for generating electrical and thermal energy, reused in the farm or supplied to

the national energy net. Municipal Solid Waste includes commercial and

residential wastes generated in municipal or notified areas, in either solid or semi-

solid form. Excluding industrial hazardous wastes, but including treated bio-

medical wastes. Just 2 Kg of such feedstock produces about 500g of methane, and

the reaction is completed within 24 hours. The conventional biogas system, using

cattle dung, distillery effluent, municipal solid waste, sewerage etc. use 40 Kg

feedstock to produce the same quality of methane and they require about 40 days

completing the reaction. It is an extremely user-friendly system, because it requires

daily only a couple of kg feedstock, and the disposal of daily just 5 liters of

effluent slurry. Methane burns with a blue flame, without producing any smoke or

soot. It is therefore an environmental friendly cooking system.

Biogas refers to a mixture of different gases produced by the breakdown of organic

matter in the absence of oxygen. Biogas can be produced from raw materials such
as agricultural waste, manure, municipal waste, plant material, sewage, green

wasteor food waste. Biogas is a renewable energy source.

Biogas is produced by anaerobic digestion with methanogen or anaerobic organisms,

which digest material inside a closed system, or fermentation of biodegradable

materials.[1] This closed system is called an anaerobic digester, biodigester or

a bioreactor.

Biogas is primarily methane (CH4) and carbon dioxide (CO2) and may have small

amounts of hydrogen sulfide (H2S), moisture and siloxanes. The

gases methane, hydrogen, and carbon monoxide (CO) can be combusted or oxidized

with oxygen. This energy release allows biogas to be used as a fuel; it can be used for

any heating purpose, such as cooking. It can also be used in a gas engine to convert

the energy in the gas into electricity and heat.

Biogas can be compressed, the same way as natural gas is compressed to CNG, and

used to power motor vehicles. In the United Kingdom, for example, biogas is

estimated to have the potential to replace around 17% of vehicle fuel. [4] It qualifies for

renewable energy subsidies in some parts of the world. Biogas can be cleaned and

upgraded to natural gas standards, when it becomes bio-methane. Biogas is

considered to be a renewable resource because its production-and-use cycle is

continuous, and it generates no net carbon dioxide. As the organic material grows, it is

converted and used. It then regrows in a continually repeating cycle. From a carbon

perspective, as much carbon dioxide is absorbed from the atmosphere in the growth of

the primary bio-resource as is released, when the material is ultimately converted to

energy.

Biomass as an Energy Source

Biomass has been used by mankind for cooking and space heating since time

immemorial. While the gaseous fuels like LPG and natural gas have replaced

biomass in developed countries and most urban homes in the developing

world, half of the world’s population and about 90% of rural households in

developing nations continue to depend on coal or biomass like wood, crop

residues, cattledung and charcoal for their cooking and heating needs 1. Data

from Census, 2001 indicates more than 72% of all households in India rely on

traditional energies for their cooking needs (Figure 1.1). Over 89% of these

households are in rural areas2.

Figure 1.1 Percentage of Indian Households using various sources of

household energy.

A major part of the household energy consumption is for cooking. Traditional

cookstoves or chulhas, which have efficiencies less than 10% and are known to be

sources of large quantities of pollutants, are used by most rural households in the

developing world for cooking. The large fuel consumption of these chulhas results in

a large amount of time spent in collecting fuel by these households. In such

1
2
households, women and children are often exposed to high levels of pollutants, for 3

to 7 hours daily over many years. There are strong evidences to show the relation

between exposure to such emissions and acute respiratory infections in children, with

estimated two- to three-fold increase in incidence and mortality due to the exposure to

these emissions.

Recently, there have been reports on the effect of black carbon released due to

unclean combustion in cookstoves, on climate change. Therefore, development

and dissemination of cookstoves that lead to reducing fuel consumption, cooking

time, and indoor air pollution can effectively contribute to improving the quality of

life of rural women and also contribute to climate change mitigation.

Composition

The composition of biogas varies depending upon the substrate composition, as well

as the conditions within the anaerobic reactor (temperature, pH, and substrate

concentration). Landfill gas typically has methane concentrations around 50%.

Advanced waste treatment technologies can produce biogas with 55%–75% methane,

which for reactors with free liquids can be increased to 80%–90% methane using in-

situ gas purification techniques.[19] As produced, biogas contains water vapor. The

fractional volume of water vapor is a function of biogas temperature; correction of

measured gas volume for water vapour content and thermal expansion is easily done

via simple mathematics[20] which yields the standardized volume of dry biogas.

In some cases, biogas contains siloxanes. They are formed from the anaerobic

decomposition of materials commonly found in soaps and detergents. During

combustion of biogas containing siloxanes, silicon is released and can combine with

free oxygen or other elements in the combustion gas. Deposits are formed containing

mostly silica(SiO2) or silicates (SixOy) and can contain calcium, sulfur, zinc,
phosphorus. Such white mineral deposits accumulate to a surface thickness of several

millimeters and must be removed by chemical or mechanical means.

Practical and cost-effective technologies to remove siloxanes and other biogas

contaminants are available.

For 1000 kg (wet weight) of input to a typical biodigester, total solids may be 30% of

the wet weight while volatile suspended solids may be 90% of the total solids. Protein

would be 20% of the volatile solids, carbohydrates would be 70% of the volatile

solids, and finally fats would be 10% of the volatile solids.

Solar Energy
Solar energy is energy from the sun. The sun is a giant ball of hydrogen and helium

gas. The enormous heat and pressure in the interior of the sun cause the nuclei of

two hydrogen atoms to fuse, producing one helium atom in a process called fusion.

During fusion, nuclear energy is converted into thermal (heat) and radiant energy.

The radiant energy is emitted from the sun in all directions and some of it reaches

Earth. Radiant energy is energy that travels in electromagnetic waves or rays.

Radiant energy includes visible light, x-rays, infrared rays, microwaves, gamma

rays, and others. These rays have different amounts of energy depending upon their

wavelength. The shorter the wavelength, the more energy they contain. We can

capture solar energy with solar collectors that convert radiant energy into heat.

Photovoltaic cells convert radiant energy directly in to electricity. Solar power is a

renewable source of energy, which has become increasingly popular in modern

times. It has obvious advantages over non-renewable energy sources, such as coal,

petroleum and nuclear energy. It is non-polluting, reliable and can produce energy

anywhere, where there is sun shining, so its resources are not going to run out
 anytime soon. It has advantages over other renewable energy sources, including

wind and water power. Solar power is generated using solar panels, which do not

require any major mechanical parts, such as wind turbines. These mechanical parts

can break down and cause maintenance issues and can also be quite noisy. Both of

these issues are virtually non-existent with solar panels. Also, the solar cells, that

connected together make up the solar panel, can last up to several decades without

replacement. Harnessing solar energy has been the holy grail of renewable energy

research for some time now. Photovoltaic cells convert light energy to high voltage

and low current which can be manipulated to provide power to our modern

electrical devices and homes Photovoltaic array

A Photovoltaic (PV) array is the energy source used in this project. PV arrays

essentially consist of a number of internal silicon based photovoltaic cells

combined in series and in parallel, depending on the voltage or current

requirements. These cells are used to convert solar energy into electricity. This

occurs when the photovoltaic cells are exposed to solar energy causing the cells

electrons to drift which, in turn, produces an electric current. This current varies

with the size of individual cells and the light intensity.

Solar energy is radiant light and heat from the Sun that is harnessed using a range of

ever-evolving technologies such as solar heating, photovoltaics, solar thermal

energy, solar architecture, molten salt power plants and artificial photosynthesis.
It is an important source of renewable energy and its technologies are broadly

characterized as either passive solar or active solar depending on how they capture

and distribute solar energy or convert it into solar power. Active solar techniques

include the use of photovoltaic systems, concentrated solar power and solar water

heatingto harness the energy. Passive solar techniques include orienting a building to

the Sun, selecting materials with favorable thermal mass or light-dispersing

properties, and designing spaces that naturally circulate air.

The large magnitude of solar energy available makes it a highly appealing source of

electricity. The United Nations Development Programme in its 2000 World Energy

Assessment found that the annual potential of solar energy was 1,575–

49,837 exajoules (EJ). This is several times larger than the total world energy

consumption, which was 559.8 EJ in 2012.

In 2011, the International Energy Agency said that "the development of affordable,

inexhaustible and clean solar energy technologies will have huge longer-term benefits.

It will increase countries’ energy security through reliance on an indigenous,

inexhaustible and mostly import-independent resource, enhance sustainability, reduce

pollution, lower the costs of mitigating global warming, and keep fossil fuel prices

lower than otherwise. These advantages are global. Hence the additional costs of the

incentives for early deployment should be considered learning investments; they must

be wisely spent and need to be widely shared"

The Earth receives 174 petawatts (PW) of incoming solar radiation (insolation) at the

upper atmosphere. Approximately 30% is reflected back to space while the rest is

absorbed by clouds, oceans and land masses. The spectrum of solar light at the Earth's

surface is mostly spread across the visible and near-infrared ranges with a small part
in the near-ultraviolet.[6] Most of the world's population live in areas with insolation

levels of 150–300 watts/m², or 3.5–7.0 kWh/m² per day.

Solar radiation is absorbed by the Earth's land surface, oceans – which cover about

71% of the globe – and atmosphere. Warm air containing evaporated water from the

oceans rises, causing atmospheric circulation or convection. When the air reaches a

high altitude, where the temperature is low, water vapor condenses into clouds, which

rain onto the Earth's surface, completing the water cycle. The latent heat of water

condensation amplifies convection, producing atmospheric phenomena such as

wind, cyclones and anti-cyclones.[7] Sunlight absorbed by the oceans and land masses

keeps the surface at an average temperature of 14 °C.[8] By photosynthesis, green

plants convert solar energy into chemically stored energy, which produces food, wood

and the biomass from which fossil fuels are derived.

DESIGN AND FABRICATION

Hybrid solar stove is designed as per the figure shown below. One part of the stove

consists of biogas operated burner and digester, other part consists of solar

operated coil, solar cell and battery assembly.

 Figure-2.1: Line diagram of Hybrid stove setup.

Hybrid stove setup is shown in the figure which consists mainly two parts

1. Biogas plant
2. Solar plant.

Biogas Plant:

The Biogas Plants is designed to generate energy from liquid and solid wastes. Bio

gas plant is designed to hold 10-20 Kg of agricultural wastes and also kitchen

wastes.
A biogas plant is the name often given to an anaerobic digester that treats farm

wastes or energy crops. It can be produced using anaerobic digesters (air-tight

tanks with different configurations). These plants can be fed with energy crops

such as maize silage or biodegradable wastesincluding sewage sludge and food

waste. During the process, the micro-organisms transform biomass waste into

biogas (mainly methane and carbon dioxide) and digestate. Higher quantity of

biogas could be produced when the wastewater is co-fermented with other residual
 from dairy industry, sugar industry, brewery industry. For example, while mixing

90% of wastewater from beer factory with 10% cow whey, the production of

biogas is increased by 2.5 times compared to the biogas produced by wastewater

from beer factory only.

Dangers
The air pollution produced by biogas is similar to that of natural gas. The content of

toxic hydrogen sulfide presents additional risks and has been responsible for serious

accidents. Leaks of unburned methane are an additional risk, because methane is a

potent greenhouse gas.

Biogas can be explosive when mixed in the ratio of one part biogas to 8–20 parts air.

Special safety precautions have to be taken for entering an empty biogas digester for

maintenance work. It is important that a biogas system never has negative pressure as

this could cause an explosion. Negative gas pressure can occur if too much gas is

removed or leaked; Because of this biogas should not be used at pressures below one

column inch of water, measured by a pressure gauge.

Frequent smell checks must be performed on a biogas system. If biogas is smelled

anywhere windows and doors should be opened immediately. If there is a fire the gas

should be shut off at the gate valve of the biogas system.

METHOD:

In this work digester is designed to hold 70lit capacity of wastes in tank, the cap is

completely sealed to make it air tight using silicon paste. The maximum amount of

waste can be put into the digester is 25 kg including the water which is added to it.

This plant is suitable for small hotels and kitchen, where the amount of waste

produced per day will be less than 1 kg.

In this method we are trying to reduce the maintenance, so that it can be managed by

a single person very easily. Here we can put the waste daily into the digester. The

waste we are using here is all types of kitchen waste.

The different types of wastes that can put into the digester are listed below.

 Vegetable peelings and trimmings.

 Spoilt vegetables.
 Fruit skins and spoilt fruit.
 Cooked and uncooked meat or fish.
 Fat, egg shells.
 Used teabags, coffee grounds.
 Bread and pastries.
 All cooked food waste.

Main Components of Biogas stove:

1. Drum used as digester and storage of 70 liters.

2. Pressure monometer.
3. Control valves.
4. Burner.

2.1.2.1.1 Digester and storage tank:

The digester which we are using here is a water drum of 70 liter capacity. The cap of

this is completely sealed to make it air tight. Digester can be assumed to be divided

into two parts. One is bottom section, where waste is put for the digestion. The

maximum weight that can be put into the digester is about 25 kg, i.e. half of the

digester drum. The upper portion is kept empty, where the gas produced, gets

collected. The gas moves to the storage tank when the control valve opens.

Figure-2.3: Digester
The digester is provided with two openings, one at the top and another at the side.

The top hole is provided in the cap of the digester, for depositing the waste into the

digester, having a diameter of 8 cm. The closing of the hole is by using a cap,

which can easily open while depositing waste into it. To make it air tight, we have

used a rubber material around the cap which serves as gasket. After depositing the

waste into the digester, the digestion will start and gas produces. After some days,

the waste which is present inside will not be able to produce any gas. That means,

the waste which is not producing any gas, must be removed from the digester. The

removal of waste is also a part of maintenance of the plant. It shows, how easily
 our plant can be maintained by a single person. Here, to remove the waste

effectively, we have made a hole at the side. It is fitted with PVC threaded cap

system which is completely leak proof. By opening the cap, the waste which is

inside, can be removed very easily. By pouring more water from the top, while

removing the waste, the waste can be removed completely. As, we have made a

hole at the side, for the effective removal of the used biomass, we have used a

tripod stand for placing the digester tank.

After the gas is produced, it will be stored in the storage tank and it can be used

anytime.
The main functions of a storage tank are:

 To store the gas without any leakage.

 To increase the pressure, so that it can burn effectively.

Because the storage tank is a plastic material it should be kept in a box, so that the

heat produced by burning of gas should not damage the storage tank or even we can

place the storage tank far away from the stove.

Figure-2.5: Digester with valve fittings

Digester and Storage tank specifications:

 Diameter of digester: 133 Cm.

 Height of the tank: 65 Cm.
 Diameter of the top hole: 8 Cm.
 Diameter of the side hole: 4 Cm.
 Area of the tank: 27162.52 Cm2.
 Volume of the tank: 15594.08 Cm3.

2.1.2.2. Pressure monometer:

Pressure manometer is used to note down the variations of pressure in the digester

tank. It senses the pressure inside the drum and when there is an increase in gas

pressure, compared to atmospheric pressure, it shows the pressure reading. This

reading will be helpful in the result analysis. The fig 2.6 shows the pressure

monometer, which we have used.

Figure-2.6: Pressure monometer

3.1.2.3. Control Valve:

We have used the valve which is used for LPG because the entire system must be

leak proof. Valve is made up of Brass material.

 Figure-2.7: Control valve

2.1.2.4. Burner:

Biogas Burner Systems are designed for specific biogas qualities, such as differences

in terms of pressure and moisture content. It is not only the biogas quality, but their

applications are also seriously considered. Burners need to be designed differently in

order to achieve optimum combustion and thermal efficiency. Hydrogen sulfide is a

common content in every biogas source. Thus, we have a pressing need to be certain

that all components that make direct contact with the biogas will not be deteriorated

by the acid from the hydrogen sulfide.

 Figure-2.8: Burner

Brief Description of Process:

The food-vegetable waste slurry mixed with hot water is directly charged into the

digester. This digester serves mainly as hydrolysis cum acidification tank for the

treatment of suspended solids. For breaking slag compressed air is used for

agitation of slurry.
Compressed air will also help in increasing aeration since bacteria involved in this

tank are aerobic in nature. The tank is designed in such a way that after the system

reaches equilibrium in initial 4-5 days, the fresh slurry entering the tank will

displace equal amount of digested matter from top into the digester tank. Digester

tank serves as a methane fermentation tank and reduction takes place here. The

biogas can be used for cooking, heating, and power generation purpose.

Solar Energy Plant

Solar energy, radiant light and heat from the sun, has been harnessed by humans

since ancient times using a range of ever-evolving technologies. Photovoltaic panels

are one of the advanced active solar power technology to harness the solar energy.

Solar energy plant in this work is designed for a small domestic purpose for cooking

rice, boiling water.

Main components of Solar stove:

1. Solar Panel.
2. Battery.
3. Heating Spring coil.

Figure-2.9: Solar operated stove

Solar Panel:

A solar cell is any device that directly converts the energy in light into electrical

energy through the process of photovoltaic. A slab (or wafer) of pure silicon is used

to make a PV cell. The top of the slab is very thinly diffused with an “n” dopant such

as phosphorous. On the base of the slab a small amount of a “p” do pant, typically

boron, is diffused. In this work small photo voltaic panel is used which generates

less power output.

 Figure-2.10: Solar panel

3.2.1.2 Battery:

Lead acid batteries are the oldest rechargeable batteries in existence. They are

inexpensive, reliable and widely used today. Lead acid batteries are more

appropriate for larger power applications.

2.2.1.3 Heating spring coil:

Heating elements use electricity to produce heat for household applications. They

work via electrical resistance and come in many different shapes and sizes, but

most use coil-shaped elements for maximum efficiency. Coil spring heating

elements are made of specialized metal alloys that are highly durable even under

the continual stress caused by electrical current. Nickel and chrome are the most

popular metals used, The coil springs in heating elements are used primarily in

cooking stoves and heat pump.

 Figure-2.11: Heating coil spring

2.2.2. Brief Process Description:

Photovoltaic panel is kept under sun. The sun energy is converted to electrical

energy as the principle of photovoltaic.

Electrical energy generated from the solar panel is stored in Lead acid battery.

Stored electrical energy is used to heat the spring coil which is used for cooking

purposes.
Final assembly of the hybrid stove after fabrication is shown in below fig.2.13

Figure 2.13 Final assembly of the Hybrid stove

III. Results and Discussions

Many tests and observations are noted to check the efficiency and performance of

biogas and solar operated hybrid stove.

Micro meter readings were noted for a span of one week in the battery. We have

considered a sunnyday, we have checked the voltage and current readings for the

incremental of 5 hours duration. We have obtained the following readings from the

micrometer.
Table 3.1: Generation of current and voltage during 24 hours of day

Time in 24 hrs Current(Amps) Voltage(v)

5 0 0
10 3 18
15 4 17
18 3 17

Graph-2: Variation of Voltage and Current Vs Time

From the graph, it shows that voltage is maximum at 11am to 3pm. Current is

maximum at 10.30 am to 2.30 pm. Voltage and current output increases with

increase in intensity of sun light incident on the solar panel.

25
20
15
10 current
5
voltage
0 on increasing the size of the photo voltaic panel and battery
It is observed that
0 10 20
capacity process be Day
used for large heating and cooking applications. The
timing in 24 hrs
development of biogas in the digester is observed for the period of one month. The

variation in the pressure developed in the digester is observed through manometer

attached to the digester. The values are obtained for the span of 20 days where

pressures are noted from the monometer.

Table 3.2: Variation of Pressure along No. of days

No of Days Pressure in cm of Water

13 1
14 2
15 3
16 4
17 5
18 6
19 6.5
20 7
21 6.5
22 5
23 4
24 3

Pressure variation

10
5 2 0 ,7
1118 92 1
0 7 22 3
1156 2 4
1134

The table shows the 0variation of pressure

10 changes with
20respect to number
30 of days.

The pressure starts building after thirteen days of slurry addition, the pressure is
No of Days

maximum or the gas production is maximum on the twentieth day of slurry addition.

Gas production stops after complete decomposition of the slurry present in the
digester and the pressure decreases in the future days Modified burners for biogas

operated stove works efficiently and process has less residues of combustion. The

digested wastes in the digester are used as manure for plants.

Advanced biomass cookstoves

There are two primary types of advanced biomass stoves that can achieve high levels

of performance; forced air stoves and gasifier stoves, both of which can run on

processed or raw biomass.

 Forced air stoves have a fan powered either by a battery, an external source of

electricity, or a thermoelectric generator. This fan blows high velocity, low

volume jets of air into the combustion chamber, which when optimized results in

more complete combustion of the fuel.

 Gasifier stoves force the gases and smoke that result from incomplete

combustion of fuels such as biomass back into the cookstove's flame, where the

heat of the flame then continues to combust the particles in the smoke until almost

complete combustion has occurred, reducing emissions. Typical gasifier stoves

are known as Top Lit Updraft (TLUD) stoves because some fuel is lit on top of

the stove, forcing combustible products to pass through the flame front before

being emitted into the air.

 CONCLUSION

Solar and Biogas operated hybrid stove is an attempt to utilize the non-conventional

energy resources. It is observed that fabricated stove works efficiently. Biogas

operated stove is suitable for domestic purpose. Stove can be commercialized for

higher applications if the capacity of Digester as well as solar panel size is increased.

REFERENCES

[1]. ELBS (Educational Low-Priced Books Scheme), Cambridge Diaz L.F., Eggerth

L.L., Savage G.M. (2007): “Management of solid wastes in developing

countries”. IWWG Monograph. CISA publisher

[2]. Lohri C. (2009): “Research on anaerobic digestion of organic solid waste at

household level” in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. Bachelor Thesis at ZHAW

 (Zurich University of Applied Sciences) in collaboration with Eawag (Swiss

Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology)

[3]. Mbuligwe S.E., Kassenga G. (2004): “Feasibility and strategies for anaerobic

digestion of solid waste for energy production” in Dar es Salaam city,

Tanzania; Resources, Conservation and Recycling 42 (2006), 183-203

[4] Sandec Report Schmitz T.D. (2007): Feasibility study for a national domestic

biogas programme in Tanzania.

Published by GTZ, Eschborn
[5]. Grunwald, M., 2008.“The clean energy scam”.Time.
171 (14), 40-45.
[6]. Andrew Giddings ,Scott Johnson, Jake Shelton “Solar Powered Lead Acid

Battery Charger” Colorado State University 2007.