PESHAWAR: A duo of mechanical engineers in Peshawar have invented a way to combine geyser and cooking stove in a product which if commercialized on a bigger scale can be a bliss for areas faced with power outages and energy problems, especially in winter.

The product, which was recently registered by the Intellectual Property Organisation (IPO), Pakistan, was quite suitable for the areas with no or less power where wood or solid biomass was used for cooking.

Dr Moahmmad Sadiq Khattak and Fawad Ali who created this dual function geyser-cooking stove say this product is already in use in Swat where it is made at a local workshop and being used for cooking and heating water with no damage to the environment.

The product can be used for cooking and water heating

“The product is already commercialized at a lower scale. However, good government funding is needed to launch it at a mass scale with good manufacturing setups and workshops,” Dr Khattak said, adding that the product was suitable for security forces’ schools and institutions which needed a big cooking stove as well as hot water for inmates at a larger scale.

This is a type of hybrid geyser which can heat water and cook food simultaneously using wood and biomass as fuel. It consists of a stove part where food is cooked and an attached geyser part where hot water is stored. “Water is heated using waste thermal energy in wood cook-stove,” said Dr Khattak while explaining the product.

He said that people in cold weather in mountainous areas or places with power outages would find this product very useful.

Against all the electric appliances, if supported by the government’s relevant departments and commercialised on subsidized rates, this product can become a strong competitor in the same market as this invention fulfils the need of hot water without usage of electricity, thus relieving the pain of both public (high bills) and government (high usage of electricity for household), insists Dr Khattak.

“The strong and pure mechanical body of our invention also gives a high life guarantee. The product is easy to operate in those territories where people are using wood and solid biomass for cooking food,” he said.

Dr Khattak insisted that the product had the economic, commercial and environmental advantages. An average cooking stove available in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has an efficiency of about 28 per cent and the remaining thermal energy is dissipated.

This invention is capable of utilising this dissipated energy and bringing it into useful work. It absorbs this wasted thermal energy through water jackets surrounding flue pipe and stove box thus making wood thermal energy more efficient, he said.

“By no more relying on electric geysers and electric rods, there will be a visible relief in inflated electricity bills at households using this product,” claimed Dr Khattak. He said that the product was also environmental friendly as it condensed carbon particles and settled them down in the flue pipe.

Published in Dawn, November 6th, 2017