Design a Stove to Burn Methane Fuel from Bovine Dung

Who would think that cow's waste can be a source of fuel? The fact is that many people all over the world already know that cow (more appropriately, bovine) dung is a good source of fuel for heating abodes and cooking food. It's been done through ages by drying cow dung patties and then lighting them up in a fireplace or stove to produce environmental heat or for cooking. Modern society has long forgotten about the value of cow dung for energy. Fortunately, consciousness about the energy crisis and climate change have spurred research into an old custom where new gas-harvesting technology can be used.

When burned, the gas produced from cow dung is over 50% methane - a vital fuel and also a greenhouse gas. This is why burning cow dung is considered by some to be harmful to the environment because methane which works as a greenhouse gas. It traps heat in the atmosphere and warms the earth. To be really environmentally friendly, the gas needs to be trapped and burned efficiently with hardly any getting released into the air. What is needed are good stove systems for harvesting the gas from cow dung and then storing it for later use on a burning apparatus for heating, cooking, or some other energy-hungry function.

Experimenting with cow dung used in specialized stoves is one way of contributing to a better environment. Who knows how many tons of cow dung are burned every day in many parts of the world? If there are no firewood to burn, people would just use cow dung and this, while helpful, still adds to the methane in the atmosphere if the burning process is highly inefficient. What is needed is a cheap yet effective stove, like the SolHuma Vital Stove pictured on top, that burns and utilizes cow dung well during combustion.

Designing and making a good cow-dung stove is one project that is simple yet can be potentially helpful to the environment and millions of poor people worldwide. In approaching the project, do consider the following which your new stove should exhibit:

1. emits little smoke
2. leaves little ash
3. requires minimal dung
4. heat distribution to cooking utensil
5. little maintenance
6. easily transportable
   

It also pays to know these additional facts about cow dung:

A pound of cow dung can produce one cubic foot of gas when burned at 75 degrees Fahrenheit. This can be enough to cook 3 meals a day for a single person for about a week. One cow can produce enough dung in one year to produce methane equal to 50 gallons of gasoline. Cow dung can be dangerous when burned if it contains toxins that the cows absorbed from eating contaminated grass. Cow dung to be burned for fuel should be sourced well. In India, there have been reports of arsenic poisoning from cow dung used for fuel.

While stove design can have a variety of appearances and engineering, it should be designed for use in third world countries where cow dung is the primary source of energy.

References to existing stove designs:

Cow-dung stove by Kumar and Shende. Click here.

The next link that follows will take you to the web page that features the QB charcoal-burning stove invented by Edelmiro I. Quibilian of the Philippines. The QB stove covers much of the issues regarding efficiency. Although it's not really designed for cow dung, it can be a good example to guide you in designing and making your cow-dung stove.

QB Charcoal Burning Stove from the Philippines

Here is a related video on how cow dung is used in Israel to produce electricity.

Physical Science Products: Learning about Science in a Hands-on Environment!

by Christopher Cameron

Hands-on science products are both fun for children and highly educational. There are many science products and supplies available on the internet and finding these science products isn't difficult. You can simply perform a search online for the topic you are interested in. Through this search, you can identify products that will teach children about different aspects of physical science and the world that we live in.

Most of the science products that you will find do come with specific directions on how to perform the experiment and will also come with explanations to account for the outcome. This explanation is what makes these science products so effective for teaching children. These science products allow your children to learn about the world around them and understand why things work the way they do, by taking advantage of other people's discoveries. Of course you will be able to draw some your own conclusions from the experiments as well.

These projects often are connected to specific aspects of science and you will be able to select the category or topic that you wish to cover before choosing a project. Most websites will have the projects broken down so you can merely choose the topic you wish to cover and then will show you the list of possible science products that you can purchase to create a corresponding experiment. Some of the more common topics would include magnetism and electricity, electrostatics, simple circuits, density and thermal expansion. Of course the topic you choose should be age appropriate. There would be no sense in trying to teach a first grader the laws of quantum physics, when they don't have the background to understand it.

An example of one of these science products would be a floating and spinning magnet. This is a very popular science product for children, and explains a great deal about magnetic fields. The reason it is so popular is it meets more desires than simply the desire to learn. The magnet seems to float on air, almost as if by magic. Children are excited to know exactly why the magnet will float and are eager to touch it and play with it. This of course will lead to better learning, because children who have a hands-on learning environment will ultimately learn more than children who are taught using a text book.

Most science products will require some degree of setup and pre-planning to use. Teachers and parents are rewarded for these efforts though, because the enjoyment that children experience in this type of learning environment will inevitably lead to a better understanding of the scientific principles involved. This allows children to see that learning doesn't always have to be tedious. Indeed, it can be quite fun and exciting. Interactive science products will help open children's eyes to the world around them and give them a better understanding of physical science.

About the Author

Find unique and innovative Science toys and Science Supplies for Physics and Physical Science. A wonderful resource for science teachers for teaching electrostatics, magnetism, electricity, force, motion, sound, light, color, waves, gas laws, alternative energy, pressure, fluid dynamics and elementary science. For details visit http://www.sci-supply.com

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