Design, Fabrication and Experimental Investigation of Improved Biomass Areke Distillation Stove
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Date
2019-02
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Addis Ababa University
Abstract
Areke is a traditional alcoholic beverage which is distilled from fermentation of cereals;
malt (beqil), gesso which gives flavor to the Areke with addition of water. Traditional
stoves are widely used across various regions of Ethiopia. Mostly, three stone biomass
Areke stove is the dominant stove used for Areke distillation. But traditional and three-stone
fires cause serious health issues and their high fuel consumption leads to deforestation
problems. The aim of this study was to design and make experimental investigation of
improved biomass Areke distillation stove to improve thermal efficiency of the stove and
consequently reduce the wastage of heat energy during the distillation process. In order to
quantify the amount of heat loss accounted in three stone and improved biomass Areke
distillations stove intensive experimental investigation was made, and data obtained was
analytically analyzed. In addition to that, Controlled Cooking was used to evaluate the
performance of the Areke stoves. An experienced cook/brewer was hired to prepare and
distill Areke using the two types of stoves three stone, and improved Areke stoves. The fuel
used for all the tests has on average a size of 40mm x 40mm x 1000mm. The moisture
content of the fuel wood used for the test was around 14%. The test room has a size of 2.5m
x 3.5m x 2.5m. Considering the three stone Areke stove as a reference, the specific fuel
consumption improvement or fuel use reduction of improved Areke stove is 45 %.
Similarly, time to brew/cook reduction is 50% in using improved Areke stove. The heat loss
accounted in the improved biomass Areke distillation stove was also quantified and the
system encountered 505 W heat losses. The thermal efficiency of the improved biomass
Areke distillation stove was 25% while that of the three-stone fire for Areke distillation was
11 %. This shows an increase of the efficiency by nearly 56 % compared to the three-stone
fire. In replacing the existing three stone, the improved Areke stove will bring increase in
thermal efficiency, reduction of fuel use and reduce total distillation time using biomass in
addition to the indoor air pollution load for the women and child in households.
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Keywords
Areke, Distillation, Heat loss, Specific fuel consumption