The plant-oil stove protos, developed by BSH, is more than just a cooker; it also generates positive ecological, economic, health and social benefits Protos is an innovative technology that allows the use of any type of available plant-oil as a fuel. Since the end of 2004, Protos has been undergoing field testing in the Philippines together with Leyte State University. More than 100 families in urban and rural areas were included in the test of the plant-oil stove.
Moreover, together with the University of Hohenheim, BSH investigated different methods of plant oil production and a rural production center for plant-oils was set up in a cooperative level. When the test concluded in April 2006, BSH introduced protos to the broader public with commercial market availability on the islands of Leyte and Samar in the Philippines and the clear promise of further expansion to other developing countries where users could most benefit.
Pilot projects are underway in India, Indonesia and Tanzania too.
Protos is based on the cooking stove designed by the engineering students of Ambedkar Institute of Technology, India who developed a biofuel pressure cooking stove.The Protos plant oil cooker works as follows :
The principle of the stove is simple. Pressure is induced into the tank, due to which fuel flows into oil line. The fuel flux is regulated with a valve in the oil line.
The vapouriser which is connected to the oil line, causes the cracking of biofuel molecules. Hence, recombination products deposited on the inner wall of the vapouriser, can be opened and cleaned with a brush. The nozzle is located at the end of the vapouriser.
After leaving the nozzle, the stream of vapourised plant oil mixes with ambient air. The fuel--air mixture is gathered in the gas collection tube of the burner head. While leaving the burning head, the mixture incinerates and burns.
The stove's properties look as follows:
Power range: 1.6–3.8 kW Usage: 2 liters oil per week for a family of 4-5 → 100 liters per year Fuel: diverse plant oils, plant oil esters Efficiency: 40-50% Emissions: ten times lower than with high quality kerosene CO2-balance: neutral
Protos was designed to work with a wide range of liquid fuel sources including the full range of both edible and inedible oils such as coconut oil, jatropha, sunflower oil, rapeseed oil, cottonseed oil or peanut oil. The fuel can be refined or unrefined. In addition to pure plant-oil it is also possible to burn used frying oil and plant oil esters (biodiesel).
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