Analysis of the combustion of pellets made with three Cameroonian biomass in a domestic pellet stove

Abstract In Sub-Saharan houses, the growing demand of fuels calls for the identification of new renewable and local resources such as biomass, suitable for energy production in small-scale stoves. In these countries, the three-stone-fire type is the most common stove and its use usually leads to high gaseous and particulate emissions. In the present study, combustion experiments of pellets made with three Cameroonian biomass in three different proportions were performed in a domestic pellet stove. The gaseous and particulate emissions were measured in derivations of the exhaust tube through appropriate gas analyzers or collecting filter. The CO concentration was measured between 476 and 675 mg/Nm3, depending on the pellets. The Total Suspended Particles (TSP) were measured in the range 130–240 mg/Nm3, depending on the pellets. These gaseous and TSP emissions were much higher than that obtained when burning normalized EN+ pellets in the same pellet stove. The combustion efficiency was evaluated between 68.5 and 80.2%, depending on the pellets, through standard computations. These values were found in the same range as that (78.2%) obtained when burning normalized EN+ pellets in the same domestic pellet stove.