A review of energy-efficient domestic cookstoves

The research on domestic combustion cookstoves has focused on developing pollution-free and energy-efficient cookstove technologies over the past few decades. Though the literature documents cookstove designs suitable for gaseous, liquid, and solid fuels, only biomass cookstoves have been reviewed extensively in the past, owing to the vast literature. The present article summarises the technical aspects of combustion cookstoves by highlighting the fundamental physics governing their operation, heat transfer and performance in terms of energy efficiency and pollutant emissions. This review classifies domestic combustion cookstoves into gaseous and liquid fuel burners, porous radiant burners, and solid fuel cookstoves. The suggestions from researchers to improve the performance of each of these cookstoves are also highlighted. In general, gaseous fuel burners are clean and efficient, while solid fuel cookstoves are the least efficient and the most polluting. The porous medium combustion of gaseous and liquid fuels has demonstrated superior efficiency and emissions than free-flame combustion. A total system efficiency that considers fuel production/transportation efficiency and the cookstove efficiency better represents the overall life-cycle of cooking. The total system efficiency of gaseous fuel cooking is the highest, followed by liquid and solid fuel cooking. The present analysis also identifies directions for future research.