A revolutionary sound-powered stove and electrical generator is currently being tested in the conditions it was designed for — rural villages in Nepal and Bangladesh.
The Score-Stove™ project brings together researchers from across the world to develop a wood-powered generator capable of cooking food.
Led by the Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering at The University of Nottingham, the project team uses thermo-acoustic technology to convert biomass fuels into energy, powering the stove and generator.
The generator has already broken electricity-production records in the lab. The thermo-acoustic wood-powered engine built by Score-Stove™ partner City University produced 23 watts. And an electrically-heated wood-burning stove built by the Nottingham team produced 36 watts of power.
Now researchers at The University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus, Kathmandu University, the Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology and partner charity Practical Action, will adapt the stoves to replicate power production in their local environments. Energy company Alstom has provided €100,000 of funding for field trials in Nepal. And Engineers Without Borders is supporting four students in developing the Score-Stove™ stove at Kathmandu University.
Score project director Paul Riley said: “The successes in the lab are fantastic achievements for the project, but they’re only the beginning for us. The Score-Stove™ generators will be used in areas across a world which has limited access to a reliable power source. We must adapt the lab version for each area, taking into account local biomass fuels, types of pots and pans used to cook, along with the everyday tasks the unit will be required for.
“It must also be able to be produced affordably and locally, rather than shipped in from overseas at great expense. That means assessing local access to materials like stainless steel and looking for workable alternatives where they’re not readily available.
“Adaptability is hugely important. We must preserve the excellent levels of performance that we’re seeing in our labs. The tremendous support we have from our partners across the academic, charity and energy sectors is instrumental in this.”
Joe Jamieson, Group Head of Aerodynamics at Alstom UK, said: “This technology is transformational and highly novel. It helps to solve a very serious problem by reducing the risk of death from cooking smoke, which kills more people than malaria each year. It also provides electricity in a safe and sustainable way.
“The Alstom Foundation is helping to bring new innovations to market that will change the prospects of so many families in developing countries.”
For more information on the Score-Stove™ project, visit: www.score.uk.com
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Notes to editors: The Alstom Foundation provides financial support for projects that improve the living conditions of communities in environmentally friendly and sustainable ways worldwide. First launched in 2007, the scheme supports project ideas that have been submitted by Alstom employees, often working alongside local associations of NGOs, or funding completely original projects.
The University of Nottingham, described by The Sunday Times University Guide 2011 as ‘the embodiment of the modern international university’, has 42,000 students at award-winning campuses in the United Kingdom, China and Malaysia. It is also the most popular university in the UK by 2012 application numbers, and ‘the world’s greenest university’. It is ranked in the UK's Top 10 and the World's Top 75 universities by the Shanghai Jiao Tong (SJTU) and the QS World University Rankings.
More than 90 per cent of research at The University of Nottingham is of international quality, according to the most recent Research Assessment Exercise. The University aims to be recognised around the world for its signature contributions, especially in global food security, energy & sustainability, and health. The University won a Queen’s Anniversary Prize for Higher and Further Education in 2011, for its research into global food security.
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Story credits
Paul Riley, Score-Stove™ Project Director, Faculty of Engineering on +44 (0) 115 951 5356 or Yousif Abdalla Abakr, yousif.abakr@nottingham.edu.my on +6 (03) 8924 8143.
Posted on 9th October 2012