Journal of King Saud University – Engineering Sciences xxx (xxxx) xxx

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Journal of King Saud University – Engineering Sciences

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Original article

Producer gas stove: Design, fabrication, and evaluation of thermal

performance
A.A.P. Susastriawan ⇑, Y. Purwanto, B.W. Sidharta, G. Wahyu, T. Trisna, R.A. Setiawan
Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Industrial Technology, Institut Sains dan Teknologi AKPRIND, Indonesia

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: Traditional biomass stoves are widely used for cooking purposes in developing countries, due to their
Received 13 July 2021 simple construction. However, the problems of low thermal efficiency, large feedstock consumption,
Accepted 26 October 2021 and high pollutant emission are encountered in the conventional design. The gasification-based stove
Available online xxxx
has also been presently and highly considered when encountering these problems. Therefore, this study
aims to: (1) develop a producer gas stove, and (2) investigate the effect of bluff-body shape, equivalence
Keywords: ratio, and feedstock on the thermal performance of the stove. The results showed that the performance of
Bluff-body
the producer gas stove was affected by the bluff-body shape of the burner, equivalence ratio, and feed-
Gasifier
Rice husk
stock type. Stable flames were further observed when the bluff body B was attached to the burner. The
Sawdust highest thermal performance was obtained by using a bluff body B, operated at an equivalence ratio of
Stove 0.5 with blended feedstock of rice husk-sawdust. In addition, the highest heating rate and thermal effi-
ciencies were 2.27 kW and 17.6%, respectively.
Ó 2021 The Authors. Production and hosting by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of King Saud University. This is an
open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).

1. Introduction
According to Jain & Sheth (2019), one-seventh of the world
energy demands were supplied from biomass resources, which
originated from agricultural, forestry, industry, as well as solid
municipal (MSW) wastes, respectively. This is because the conver-
sion of waste to energy is a viable method in managing MSW and
renewable power utilization (Ouda et al., 2017). The low-density
biomass energy is often enhanced by converting the waste into a
high-density fuel, through solar-pyrolysis technology (Ndukwu
et al.). This is carried out by using an anaerobic fermentation diges-
ter to produce biogas (Okonkwo et al., 2018). In developing coun-
tries, biomass waste is directly used for heating and cooking
purposes. Furthermore, traditional biomass stoves are widely
known to be used for cooking purposes, due to their simple con-
struction. According to L’Orange et al. (2012), a primitive cook
stove was used by the primary world’s population to burn biomass
⇑ Corresponding author.
E-mail address: agung589E@akprind.ac.id (A.A.P. Susastriawan).
Peer review under responsibility of King Saud University.
Production and hosting by Elsevier
fuel. This indicates that the traditional tool has low thermal effi-
ciency, large fuel consumption, and high pollutant emissions
(Chen et al., 2016). Meanwhile, primary air is often naturally aspi-
rated in a conventional stove. In the comparisons between natural
and forced draft configurations, Kirch et al. (2016) stated that con-
trollable airflow should be used at various combustion phases, to
achieve high efficiency and low emissions cooking stove.
Based on encountering the problems of a conventional stove, a
producer gas stove has been developed. The working principle of
this tool indicates that biomass is gasified in the reactor, to pro-
duce syngas, which is burnt to obtain producer gas flame in the
burner. The working principle differences between a conventional
and gasified stove are further explained by the schematic diagram
in Fig. 1. In a traditional stove, several characteristics are observed,
namely (i) excess air is naturally or forcedly supplied, (ii) biomass
experiences direct combustion, (iii) fuel gas and heat are often the
product. However, deficient air is supplied to the producer gas
stove, as biomass is found to experience gasification. Producer
gas is also a product, with its combustion in the burner providing
gaseous flame and heat. This gaseous combustion produces less
emission than the direct combustion of solid biomass fuel
(Hernández, et al., 2010).
Gasification is the thermo-chemical process of converting solid
fuel into a combustible gas (producer gas), through the reactions
of drying, pyrolysis, oxidation, and reduction (Basu, 2010;

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jksues.2021.10.009
1018-3639/Ó 2021 The Authors. Production and hosting by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of King Saud University.
This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).

Please cite this article as: A.A.P. Susastriawan, Y. Purwanto, B.W. Sidharta et al., Producer gas stove: Design, fabrication, and evaluation of thermal perfor-
mance, Journal of King Saud University – Engineering Sciences, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jksues.2021.10.009
A.A.P. Susastriawan, Y. Purwanto, B.W. Sidharta et al.
Fig. 1. Schematic diagram of the stoves.
Khisore, 2008). Heat is also obtained from the oxidation reaction
and released for drying, pyrolysis, and reduction. Moreover, the
energy content in the producer gas is determined by the composi-
tion of combustible compounds (CO, H2, and CH4), which are
formed during the process of reduction, through the Boudourd
(Eq. (1)), Water-Gas (Eq. (2)), W-G (Water-Gas) Shift (Eq. (3)),
and Methane (Eq. (4)) reactions, respectively (Basu, 2010). The
higher the composition of the combustible compound, the greater
the energy content of the producer gas.
C þ CO2 $ 2CO þ 172 kJ=mol ð1Þ
C þ H2 O $ CO þ H2 þ 131 kJ=mol ð2Þ
CO þ H2 O $ CO2 þ H2  41; 2 kJ=mol ð3Þ
C þ 2H2 $ CH4  74; 8kJ=mol ð4Þ
The feedstock size and gasification temperature are two of the
various parameters that affect the production of CO, H2, and CH4.
This is because the smaller size of the biomass has a larger heat
transfer surface area, which increases the rate of released volatiles
during the pyrolysis process (Hernández et al., 2010). For the same
air–fuel ratio, the rate of consumption is higher for smaller size
biomass. This is because the large biomass decreases the gasifica-
tion process, leading to the production of less producer gas (Patel
et al., 2014). Meanwhile, the uniform biomass size affects the per-
formance of the gasifier (Belonio, 2005). This indicates that the
more uniform the size of the biomass, the higher the efficiency of
the gasifier. Based on the variations in different geographical
regions, the improved cookstoves should be considerately compat-
ible with several biomass fuels (Raman et al., 2013). Furthermore,
at high gasification temperature, the tar cracking process and the
heating syngas value are found to be better and improved (Liu
et al., 2012). This is because the percentages of H2 and CO in pro-
ducer gas improves with the increase of the gasification tempera-
ture (Wang et al., 2015), which is further affected by the
equivalence ratio. According to Kaupp & Goss (1981), the equiva-
lence ratio of 0.2–0.4 was found to be effective for biomass gasifi-
cation. Using higher ratios, oxygen availability is observed to
increase, leading to the enhancement of the oxidation rate. This
causes the release of more heat during oxidation, therefore, leading
to increased gasification temperature (Guo et al., 2014).
2
Journal of King Saud University – Engineering Sciences xxx (xxxx) xxx
Sutar et al. (2016), developed a gasifier-based domestic stove
with a nominal capacity of 2.5 kW, and also a maximum efficiency
of approximately 80%. The results showed that the performance of
the tool was affected by the surface area of the reaction and
reactor temperature. The Top Lit Updraft (TLUD) stove was also
developed by Obi et al. (2019) and had a better performance
compared to the traditional stove. Furthermore, compressed air
should be used and controlled using a rotameter, to obtain the
proper primary and secondary prerequisites for gasification and
combustion (De La Hoz et al., 2017). Tryner et al. (2014), further
investigated the effect of fuel type on the emission and efficiency
of the TLUD stove, with the highest measured thermal
performance observed at 42%.
Burner design also plays an important role in achieving the high
thermal efficiency of the producer gas stove. The main difference
between an LPG and producer gas burner is based on the high
and low utilization of velocity jets at ambient temperature and
100–300 °C, respectively (Sutar et al., 2016). Besides the low veloc-
ity, the producer gas burner also uses high mass flow rate and
buoyant jets. Several designs of this tool have been further
reported, such as partially aerated and naturally aspirated con-
struction (Sutar et al., 2016), as well as producer gas combustor
and premixed burners, respectively (Dattarajan et al., 2014; Bhoi
& Channiwala, 2008; Punnarapong et al., 2017). Also, the maxi-
mum efficiency of the premixed burner at producer gas flow rate
and equivalence ratio is 24.3 Nm/h and 0.84 (Punnarapong et al.,
2017).
The producer gas from biomass gasification generally has a
lower heating value within the range of 3–7 MJ/kg. This often gen-
erates less flame temperature and a low-intensity thermal field
that are beneficial in reducing warm NOx (Chanphavong &
Zainal, 2019). However, the disadvantages of low heating value
fuel, like syngas, are the narrow flammability limits and lack of
flame stability (Uchman & Werle, 2016). The limit of the flame sta-
bility also depends on the composition of the syngas (Saediamiri
et al., 2017). Moreover, the thermo-diffusivity of the hydrogen sig-
nificantly enhances stability and destabilize lean flames. The study
of Zhen et al. (2013), found that the addition of 5% hydrogen on
biogas enhanced flame stability. The results showed that the
flammability limits of the syngas burner were established between
40 and 55 (Bhoi & Channiwala, 2008), as the peak burning rate of
the producer gas proved faster than those of the conventional fuels,
such as isooctane and methane (Serrano et al., 2008).
Several studies were also reported on the bluff body, to encoun-
ter the narrow flame stability limit of producer gas. Kumar &
Mishra (2008), investigated the effect of bluff body shape on an
LPG–H2 jet diffusion flame. The results showed that flame length
increased with the improving lip thickness of the bluff body, which
provides positive and negative effects on flame stability and NOx
emission, respectively. Another study was conducted by Esquiva-
Dano et al. (2001), showing that the tulip-shaped bluff body pro-
moted an enlargement of the stabilization domain, and empha-
sized a specific region known as the laminar ring flame.
Meanwhile, the stabilization process was modified at the begin-
ning of the disk, due to strong reverse velocities. The results
showed that two parameters controlled the stabilization process
of non-premixed flames, i.e., the gas jet to air velocity ratio and
the bluff-body shape.
Novelty Statement
Several biomass stoves were successfully designed and used
worldwide. However, they were generally conventional tools based
on direct combustion. This led to the limited reports on
gasification-based stoves. Therefore, a gasifier-based stove is
designed, fabricated, and tested in this study. This aims to investi-
gate the effect of bluff-body shape, equivalence ratio, and feed-
stock, on the thermal performance of the stove.
A.A.P. Susastriawan, Y. Purwanto, B.W. Sidharta et al. Journal of King Saud University – Engineering Sciences xxx (xxxx) xxx

2. Methodology Table 1
Ultimate property of the feedstocks (Susastriawan et al., 2018).

2.1. Design and fabrication of the stove Ultimate property Rice husk Sawdust ASTM Standard
C (wt,%,adb) 34.05 44.99 D 5373
Based on the prototypical operation in the batch mode, a 3 kg H (wt,%,adb) 5.35 6.68 D 5373
gasified stove was designed and fabricated. This was created from O (wt,%,adb) 39.14 45.62 D 3176
N (wt,%,adb) 0.17 – D 5373
a Mild Steel cylinder with a diameter and height of 450 and
S (wt,%,adb) 0.12 0.74 D 4239
1000 mm, respectively, according to the design calculation of HHV (MJ/kg) 13.393 17.577 D 5865
Guangul et al. (2012). The perforated grate was also produced from
a Mild Steel plate with 5 mm thickness. In addition, the primary air
inlet and ash outlet were provided at the bottom of the stove. Fur-
thermore, a hopper was provided to feed the biomass feedstock
into the gasifier, with the burner being attached at the top of the
stove. The combustible gaseous compound was then burnt in the
burner, to generate producer gas flame. An isometric and orthogo-
nal view of the stove is shown in Fig. 2.

2.2. Characterization of the feedstocks

The feedstocks in this study were the rice husk and sawdust
wastes collected from the milling and wood processing industries
in Bantul Yogyakarta, Indonesia. These locations were similar to
those in the study of Susastriawan et al. (2018). Based on this con-
dition, the ultimate properties of the feedstock were similar to the Fig. 3. Schematic diagram of the experimental setup.
rice husk and sawdust in previous studies, as shown in Table 1. In
addition, the percentages of C, H, O, N, and S, were important in
obtaining the required primary airflow rate for provided equiva- 2.3.1. Investigation on the effect of the bluff-body
lence ratio. Three different bluff bodies, i.e. A, B, and C, were further tested
in this study, with their shapes and technical drawings shown in
Fig. 4. The main differences between these bodies were based on
2.3. Experimental work
the height and diameter of the flame holder. The stove was oper-
ated on a 3 kg rice husk, at an equivalence ratio of 0.5. Firstly,
Fig. 3(a) and (b) showed the experimental setup without and
the stove was tested without WBT to capture a flame image every
with Water Boiling Test (WBT), respectively. The blower was also
15 mins. Secondly, it was tested with WBT to obtain the heating
used to supply air for gasification, while the rotameter was used
rate and thermal efficiency of the producer gas stove, which were
to control the required flow rate. The K-type thermocouples were
calculated using Eq. (5) and (6).
further used to measure the axial (T1, T2, and T3), flame (Tf), and
water (Tw) temperatures of the stove in the WBT, respectively. Q ¼ mw  cp;w  ðT b  T i Þ þ mw;v  hfg;w ð5Þ
Also, the T1, T2, and T3 were measured at 150, 300, and 450 mm
above the grate, respectively, with the information being logged
in a data logger Graphtec 240. In this study, the Chinese WBT Q
g¼  100% ð6Þ
(Chen et al., 2016) was adopted to obtain flame temperature, heat- mf  HHV f
ing rate, and thermal efficiency. The aims of this experimental
study were also divided into two parts, i.e. (1) investigating the where mw,v = the mass of water vapor, hfg,w = the heat of water
effect of the bluff-body burner on the thermal performance of vapor at normal boiling point (2260 kJ/kg), mw = the mass of water
the stove, (2) investigating the effect of equivalence ratio and feed- in the pot (kg), cp,w, = the specific heat of water (4.2 kJ/kg.°C), Tb and
stock type on the thermal performance of the stove. Ti = the boiling and initial temperatures of water (°C), mf = the mass

Fig. 2. Photograph and orthogonal view of the producer gas stove (unit: mm). Fig. 4. The bluff-bodies and dimension (unit: mm).

3
A.A.P. Susastriawan, Y. Purwanto, B.W. Sidharta et al. Journal of King Saud University – Engineering Sciences xxx (xxxx) xxx

of the feedstock (kg), and HHVf = the higher heating value of the reduction of T1
feedstock (kJ/kg).
1200
Burner A
1000

Temperature ( C)
2.3.2. Investigation on the effect of equivalence ratio and feedstock T1

o
In the second part, the stove was tested on the feedstocks of rice 800 T2
husk, sawdust, and a blend of both (1:1 by weight) with WBT (se- T3
600
tup 3b). Firstly, the stove was tested on rice husk at equivalence
ratios of 0.4, 0.5, and 0.6. This equivalence ratio is defined as a pro- 400
portion between the actual and combustible stoichiometric ([A/ 200
F]st) air-fuels used in gasification. The equivalence ratio is also for-
mulated by Sheth & Babu (2009), as follows,
0
0 10 20 30 40 50 60
½A=Fact Time (minute)
/¼ ð7Þ 1200
½A=Fst
Burner B
1000

Temperature ( C)
Secondly, the stove was tested using the sawdust and the blend T1

o
at an equivalence ratio of 0.5. All the tests were notably conducted 800 T2
using the bluff-body B burner, as the axial temperature, T1, T2, and
T3
600
T3, were observed and analyzed. In addition, the heat rate and ther-
mal efficiency of the stove were calculated using Eq. (5) and (6), 400
with results further compared to determine the effect of equiva- 200
lence ratio and feedstock on the performance of the producer gas
0
stove. 0 10 20 30 40 50 60
Time (minute)
2.4. Data analysis 1200
Burner C
1000
Temperature ( C)

The gasification process that occurred in the reactor was deter- T1

o

mined using the profile of T1, T2, and T3 at 5, 15, 30, and 45 mins. 800 T2
The flame image and length were also observed at 15, 30, and 45
T3
600
mins. Afterwards, the gasifier-stove was tested using the Chinese
WBT method, where heating rate and thermal efficiency were cal- 400
culated using Eq. (5) and (6), respectively. 200
0
3. Results and discussion 0 10 20 30 40 50 60
Time (minute)
3.1. An effect of bluff-body shape
Fig. 5. The temperature profile of the reactor.

Fig. 5 showed the axial temperatures (T1, T2, T3) of the reactor at
1 h, with the profiles found to be generally similar for all three
burners. After attaining maximum values, the temperatures
declined till the feedstock became burnt. The fast increase of T1
was further due to the ignition of the feedstock and air supplied
being performed at the bottom of the reactor. Therefore, oxidation
initially occurred at the bottom of the reactor, releasing the heat
needed to increase T1. Afterwards, the oxidation zone moved
upward to the green feedstock sequentially enhancing T2 and T3,
leading to the reduction of T1
Based on Fig. 6, the gasification process occurring in the reactor
is determined using the profiles of T1, T2, and T3 at 5, 15, 30, and 45
mins. This indicated that the process effectively occurred after 15
mins, where the rice husk temperature of 600–800 °C was attained.
From 15 to 30 mins, the gasification zone was observed at 300 mm
above the grate, which further shifted to 450 mm in the 45th mins.
Based on Fig. 7, the flame images at 15, 30, and 45 mins for
Burners A, B, and C, were presented, respectively. This indicated
that smoky flames were observed early at 15 mins, for the use of
Burners A, B, and C. Due to the decreased temperature of the reac-
tor temperature and the onset of the gasification process, more
smoke was generated at 15 mins. Also, the smoke and the producer
gas increased to the burner, leading to a smoky flame. According to
the turbulent jet emission (Lee and Chu, 2003), the flame structure
was dominated by the momentum of the producer at 15 mins,
therefore observed as a lit-off smoky fire. After 15 mins, these
flames became clear without smoke, except for burner C at 45
mins. This clarity was due to the enhancement and achievement
of the gasification temperature by the reactor. The results showed
4
the occurrence of a better-gasified process and the formation of
more combustible compounds responsible for clear flames. At this
time, the flame was properly attached to the burner lip, and the
buoyant effect was in line with the jet momentum effect. Mean-
while, the plume regions were observed at the 45th mins. This
indicated that the buoyant effect had a stronger impact than the
momentum, leading to the dominance of the flames by resilient
forces. The smoky flame for Burner C was based on the oxidation
zone shifting further to the higher location, as shown in Fig. 6.
Based on Fig. 7, different flame lengths were observed for Bur-
ner A, B, and C. However, similar trends were found for all burners,
i.e., flame length decreased and increased at 30 and 45 mins. Due
to better gasification and similar buoyant force with jet momen-
tum, stable flames occurred at the 30th min. Meanwhile, the flame
length increased in the 45th min, based on the enhancement of air
pressure from the blower. In addition, the feedstock was almost
gasified at this time, reducing flow resistance to the gasification air.
The gasifier stove was further tested using the Chinese WBT
method after the flame images were obtained. Using Burners A,
B, and C, these images, as well as flame and water temperatures
under boiling test conditions, are shown in Fig. 8. The results
showed that the images were obtained at the 30th min, indicating
that the flame temperatures increased at the beginning of all bur-
ner designs, and declined after 30 mins at the middle of the test.
From Fig. 7, the reduction of smoky flame increased temperature
at the initial stage to 30 mins. However, the flame temperature
of burner B was more stable than that of A and C. This temperature
for all burners further ranged from 400 to 600 °C. In addition, the
A.A.P. Susastriawan, Y. Purwanto, B.W. Sidharta et al. Journal of King Saud University – Engineering Sciences xxx (xxxx) xxx

Axial axis of the reactor (mm) Burner t = 5 minute

T3 Burner A
Burner B
Burner C
T2

T1

Grate
0 200 400 600 o 800 1000
Temperature ( C)
Axial axis of the reactor (mm)

Burner t = 15 minute
Burner A
T3 Burner B
Burner C
T2

T1
Fig. 7. Flame image and length.
Grate
0 200 400 600 800 1000
800 200
Temperature (oC)
Flame Temp. (oC)

Water Temp. (oC)

600 150
Axial axis of the reactor (mm)

t = 30 minute Flame
Burner 400 100
Water
Burner A 200 50
T3 Burner B 0 0
Burner C 0 10 20 30 40 50 60
Time (minute)
T2 800 200
Flame Temp. ( C)

Water Temp. ( C)
Flame
o

600 150

T1 400 100
Water
200 50
Grate

o
0 0
0 10 20 30 40 50 60
0 200 400 600 800 1000 Time (minute)
Temperature (oC) 800 200
Axial axis of the reactor (mm)

Flame Temp. ( C)

t = 45 minute Water Temp. ( C)

o

Burner 600 Flame 150

400 100
T3 Burner A 200 Water 50
o

Burner B
0 0
Burner C 0 10 20 30 40
Time (minute)
50 60
T2
Fig. 8. Flame image and temperature during water boiling test.

T1
The heat transfers to the WBT and thermal efficiency are shown
Grate in Fig. 9. This showed that the rates of heat transferred to the WBT
within 60 mins were 1250, 1380, and 1320 W, for the use of burn-
0 200 400 600 800 1000 ers A, B, and C, respectively. More flammable heat was also trans-
Temperature (oC) ferred to the WBT during the use of Burner B, indicating a relatively
stable temperature than that of A and C. During the use of this bur-
Fig. 6. The axial temperature profile of the reactor.
ner (Burner B), more heat transfer to the WBT further provided
higher water vapors. Therefore, burner B had the highest thermal
flame temperatures in this study were comparable with that of the efficiency than others, although the difference was insignificant.
producer gas in a premixed burner, i.e., 500–700 °C (Bhoi & In addition, Burners A, B, and C had thermal efficiency values of
Channiwala, 2008). 11.2%, 12.3%, and 11.8%, respectively.
5
A.A.P. Susastriawan, Y. Purwanto, B.W. Sidharta et al. Journal of King Saud University – Engineering Sciences xxx (xxxx) xxx

2000 100 leading to the occurrence of oxidation at this location for the first
Flame Temp. (oC) ; Heat Rate (W)

time. The heat released by this oxidation process also increased

the zonal temperature and sustained the reaction. Moreover, some
1600 80 amount of heat was transferred to the green feedstock, i.e.,
150 mm above the grate, leading to the occurrence of the oxidation
Heat rate process at this location. Based on this condition, T1 was observed to

1200
800
Flame
400
Efficiency
0 0
1
A B2
Burner Design
Fig. 9. The average flame temperature and the WBT test.
3.2. An effect of equivalence ratio and feedstock on thermal
performance
Fig. 10 shows an axial temperature profile of the rice husk stove,
at an equivalence ratio of 0.4, 0.5, and 0.6. This indicated that T1 at
150 mm initially increased for all observed ratios above the grate,
accompanied by T2 and T3 at 300 and 450 mm, respectively. The
sequential trend within these temperatures was in line with the
updraft gasifier stove. In this gasifier, air and producer gas flowed
upwards while the feedstock moved downwards. This feedstock is
further ignited at the bottom of the gasifier, i.e. near the grate,
Efficiency (%)
60 increase faster. Also, several heats were transferred to the reduc-
tion zone, to form combustible gases (CO, H2, and CH4). Therefore,
the syngas flowed to the burner and generated flame. Since the
40 feedstock at 150 mm and below had been burnt, the oxidation zone
further shifted higher, i.e., 300 mm above the grate. This led to the
increase and decrease of temperatures at 300 mm (T2) and under-
20 neath (T1), respectively.
According to Fig. 10 and typical rice husk temperature (600–
800 °C), the gasification zone was located at 300 mm above the
grate, for the equivalence ratio of 0.4. This zone initially originated
C3 at 150 mm and shifted to 300 mm above the grate, for the equiv-
alence ratio of 0.5 and 0.6, respectively. For the ratio of 0.4, the heat
released by the oxidation process was sufficiently lower in attain-
ing the gasification temperature at T1. Due to the elevated flow of
primary air, the heat from the T1 zone and oxidation process was
elevated to T2. The temperature in this zone also increased and
reached gasification when additional heat was released from the
T1 zone. Therefore, the gasification process occurred at 300 mm
above the grate. Meanwhile, more complete oxidation occurred
at T1 when the equivalence ratio extended to 0.5 and 0.6. For
reaching complete oxidation, more oxygen was made available in
a higher equivalence ratio. As the oxidation zone moved upwards,
the T2 temperature increased and reached gasification.
According to Fig. 11, an axial temperature profile of the rice
husk, sawdust, and blended (rice husk-sawdust; 1:1 by mass)
stoves at an equivalence ratio of 0.5 is observed. This indicated a

1200 1200
Ø = 0.4 T1 T2 T3 Rice Husk T1 T2 T3
1000 1000
Temperature (oC)

Temperature ( C)
o

800 800
600 600
400 400
200 200
0 0
0 5 10 15 20 0 5 10 15
Time (minute) Time (minute)
1200 1200
Ø = 0.5 T1 T2 T3 Sawdust T1 T2 T3
1000 1000
Temperature (oC)

Temperature (oC)

800 800
600 600
400 400
200 200
0 0
0 5 10 15 20 0 5 10 15 20
Time (minute) Time (minute)
1200 1200
Ø = 0.6 T1 T2 T3 Blend T1 T2 T3
1000 1000
Temperature (oC)

Temperature (oC)

800 800
600 600
400 400
200 200
0 0
0 5 10 15 20 0 5 10 15 20
Time (minute) Time (minute)

Fig. 10. Axial temperature profile at a various equivalence ratio. Fig. 11. Axial temperature profile using various feedstock.

6
A.A.P. Susastriawan, Y. Purwanto, B.W. Sidharta et al. Journal of King Saud University – Engineering Sciences xxx (xxxx) xxx

similar increasing temperature trend for T1, T2, T3, based on the use
of rice husk, sawdust, and blended feedstocks. The temperature of
T1 was found to initially increase, accompanied by T2 and T3. How-
ever, the gasification zones were located at different heights. For
the rice husk, this zone was initially located at T1, then shifted to
T2. Meanwhile, the zone remained at T1 for the sawdust and rice
husk. These were due to the free flow of the sawdust and the blend
during the process. The green sawdust and the blend also moved
downwards when the lower feedstock had been oxidized. From
Fig. 11, the gasification temperature of rice husk was observed at
800 °C, while the sawdust and blend were 600 °C. Also, the stable
gasification process occurred for the feedstock of the blend. In
addition, the stable temperatures of T1, T2, and T3 were observed
after 8 mins for the blended feedstock.
Heating rate is defined as the amount of useful heat transferred
to the WBT, to boil the water. This is calculated using Eq. (5),
except for the test at an equivalence ratio of 0.6. The calculation
of this factor at an equivalence ratio of 0.6 only considered sensible
heat, i.e., the first term of Eq. (5). This was because the WBT did not
reach boiling temperature through the equivalence ratio of 0.6.
Fig. 12(a) further presented the heating rate by using rice husk at
various equivalence ratios. Meanwhile, Fig. 12(b) provided the val-
ues for the use of various feedstocks at an equivalence ratio of 0.5.
The highest and lowest heating rates in this study were obtained
using the equivalence ratio of 0.5 and 0.6, i.e., 1.81 and 1.51 kW,
respectively. This low value was due to the small and yellow flame
during the test. For the analysis with different feedstocks, the heat-
ing rate of the blend was the highest among others. The heating
rate with the use of rice husk, sawdust, and the blend were 1.81,
2.06, and 2.27 kW, respectively. In addition, a stable gasification
process and flame caused the transfer of more heat to the WBT
after 8 mins, during the blend test, leading to the production of
the highest heating rate.
Fig. 13 shows the thermal efficiency graphs of the stove at var-
ious equivalence ratios and feedstocks. Since this efficiency is
directly and inversely proportional to the heating rate and higher
feedstock value, the trend at various equivalence ratios was similar
to that of the rice husk test (Fig. 12a). The highest heating rate was
also attained at the equivalence ratio of 0.5, which was in line with
the results of Fig. 12a. Moreover, the thermal efficiencies of the rice
husk stove at the equivalence ratio of 0.4, 0.5, and 0.6, were 15.3%,
16.2%, and 13.5%, respectively.

25
2.5 a)
a)
20
Thermal efficiency (%)

2
Heat rate (kW)

15
1.5

10
1

5
0.5

0
0 0.4 0.5 0.6
0.4 0.5 0.6
Equivalence ratio Equivalence ratio
2.5 25
b) b)
Thermal Efficiency (%)

2 20
Heat rate (kW)

1.5 15

1 10

0.5 5

0 0
Rice husk Sawdust Blend Rice husk Sawdust Blend
Feedstock Feedstock
Fig. 12. Heating rate. Fig. 13. Thermal efficiency.

7
A.A.P. Susastriawan, Y. Purwanto, B.W. Sidharta et al.
Meanwhile, a different trend between thermal efficiency and
heating rate was observed for the test, using various feedstock.
Although the heating rate with sawdust was higher than that of
the rice husk, its thermal efficiency was much lower. This was
due to the sawdust having a higher gross heating value
(17.577 MJ/kg) than the rice husk (13.393 MJ/kg). Therefore, the
gross heating value provided an inverse effect on thermal effi-
ciency, according to Eq. (6).
In comparison with similar gasifier-based tools, the thermal
efficiencies of this present stove were lower than that of the Top
Lit Updraft (TLUD), which was observed at 42% and reported by
Tryner et al. (2014). However, the thermal efficiencies of this pre-
sent stove were higher than that of Obi et al. (2016), which was
reportedly 11.20%.
4. Conclusion
Based on this study, the producer gas stove was designed and
fabricated for the utilization of the rice husk and sawdust wastes,
which were observed as renewable energy sources. The gasifier
was generally and successfully tested on the feedstocks of rice
husk, sawdust, and the blend (rice husk-sawdust; 1:1 by mass),
without any problems. From the investigation of the effect of
bluff-body, equivalence ratio, and feedstock on the thermal perfor-
mance of the stove, the following conclusions were obtained:
1. The stable flame was observed when bluff-body B was attached
to the burner. Also, the optimum dimension of the bluff body C
was found to be 25 and 69 mm of lip thickness and diameter,
respectively.
2. The equivalence ratio provided a moderate effect on the perfor-
mance of the stove. The heating rate and thermal efficiency of
the rice husk stove were also the highest at an equivalence ratio
of 0.5. In addition, the maximum heating rate and thermal effi-
ciency at this condition were 1.81 kW and 16.2%, respectively.
3. Feedstock type also provided a moderate impact on the perfor-
mance of the gasifier stove. This showed that the blend of rice
husk-sawdust generated the highest heating rate and thermal
efficiency at the equivalence ratio of 0.5. Also, the heating rate
and thermal efficiency of the stove for the blend were
2.27 kW and 17.6%, respectively.
Declaration of Competing Interest
The authors declare that they have no known competing finan-
cial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared
to influence the work reported in this paper.
Acknowledgment
The authors are grateful to the Ministry of Education, Culture,
Research, and Technology, the Republic of Indonesia, for the finan-
cial support through the scheme of Penelitian Dasar Unggulan Per-
guruan Tinggi (PDUPT) SP DIPA-023.17.1.690439/2021. The
authors are also grateful to LLDIKTI V Yogyakarta and LPPM IST.
AKPRIND, for the administrative support during this study.
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