An alternative to cooking gas
This is an idea that I am thinking of implementing to practically check its viability. This has NOT been tested practically till now and it may either work or may not. However, it can be implemented very easily and it is not rocket science either!
So, the idea is to use hydrogen gas instead of LPG (liquefied petroleum gas) or to substantiate some percentage of LPG with it. Even if we were to save 15% of LPG, it is still a large amount of energy we have conserved.
The idea is to produce hydrogen by electrolyzing water. A solar panel will be used to produce the electricity and electrolysis will be carried out in a large cement/polymer tank. The hydrogen and oxygen produced will be collected in a dome and fed to the stoves after mixing with LPG. If about 15-20% of the LPG is replaced with hydrogen, it may not make much difference to the characteristics of the flame and so cooking can be carried out. (NOTE: 15-20% is just an assumption. It has not been tested practically.)
Once upon a time, solar panels (photovoltaic cells) were very costly. However, the electronics revolution is here and so getting a photovoltaic panel is not such a costly process. The photovoltaic panels can be placed on roof tops or in open ground wherever there is enough sun light.
Why hydrogen ? This question can be justified in many ways:
- No pollution: When LPG burns, carbon dioxide is released. Though carbon dioxide is not a poisonous gas, it is still a green house gas which contributes to global warming. You don’t supply enough air to the stove and carbon monoxide is produced. This is a real poisonous gas. Inhaling it can cause serious problems and even death. On the other hand, when hydrogen burns water is produced.
- High calorific value: Hydrogen has the highest calorific value of all known fuels. There is nothing that beats hydrogen when it comes to calorific value. This is the reason behind its use in gas welding cutters.
- Easy to produce: All that one needs to produce hydrogen: water acidulated with dilute sulfuric acid, two corrosion resistant electrodes, a source of direct current (say 12 volts) and the correct electrolytic vessel. And voila! you have hydrogen bubbling at one electrode and oxygen at the other.
On the negative side, it is very difficult to store large amounts of hydrogen gas. It is extremely difficult to liquefy and this is a problem indeed. However, we won’t store large amounts of hydrogen as it will be continuously fed to the stove and produced as and when needed. We can also employ a compression mechanism to compress hydrogen to store larger amounts of it. The oxygen produced can be either fed to the stove itself to aid in better combustion or used for some other purpose.
This setup may not be feasible in areas with heavy rains and fog. Photovoltaic cells do not work efficiently in such areas due to lack of proper sunlight.
Why not use the electricity directly to cook food ?
- Electricity cannot be stored as much efficiently as hydrogen or LPG. Rechargeable batteries are not only costly, they also have lower lifetime.
- People have to still get used to cooking equipment like microwave ovens and cookers that run on electricity.
