the design problem -- clean stove

the other MSU team (Andy, Carly, Dan, Robert) are working on developing a “clean stove” which can replace indoor three stone fires and improve the health and resource efficiency of the families using them.

(taken from a document produced by John Barrie)

Problem:

Smoke from indoor cooking fires is the #1 cause of death for infants ages 6 months to 5 years.  The World Health Organization estimates that more than two million premature deaths annually are caused by exposure to smoke from traditional cookstoves and open fires, with women and children the most afflicted. That makes it one of the top five overall health risks in poor, developing countries, and the cause of twice as many deaths as malaria.  There are also significant issues with burns and injuries to women and children due to the fire itself or pots spilling over.

Solution:

Design an inexpensive clean burning bio-fuel stove that can be made in the countries where the stove will be used. 

  

Design Challenge:

•           Evaluate existing designs for clean burning stoves.

•           Find open source drawings for clean burning stoves.

•           Design a program for measuring the efficacy of clean burning stoves.

•           Prototype clean burning stoves.

•           Measure stove performance.

•           Choose stove designs to be part of ATC Design Library.

•           Create ATC binder of Clean Stove data.

•           Contribute to ATC Clean Stove webpage.

•           Create clear, easy to read and comprehend drawings of a clean burning stove for distribution by ATC.

 

more key facts:

(taken from WHO Fact Sheet)

• Around 3 billion people cook and heat their homes using open fires and leaky stoves burning biomass (wood, animal dung and crop waste) and coal.
• Nearly 2 million people die prematurely from illness attributable to indoor air pollution from household solid fuel use.
• Nearly 50% of pneumonia deaths among children under five are due to particulate matter inhaled from indoor air pollution.
• More than 1 million people a year die from chronic obstructive respiratory disease (COPD) that develops due to exposure to such indoor air pollution.
• Both women and men exposed to heavy indoor smoke are 2-3 times more likely to develop COPD.

in future posts, i'll talk about what the team's approach has been, their findings, and their solution.