New "soundwave" stove to cook food -- and cool it
LONDON (Reuters Life!) - A revolutionary wood-fired stove powered by soundwaves is being developed to both cook and cool food, in a move that could help millions in poor countries with scant electricity, British scientists said on Friday.
The all-in-one cooker, refrigerator and generator will use thermoacoustic technology -- a hi-tech and more efficient way of harnessing the energy in wood than an open fire.
The "super-stove" will channel heat into a special pipe to produce pockets of high and low gas pressure, generating sound in a similar way to a singing kettle. An alternator then converts the sound into electricity to power the appliance.
Thermoacoustic technology has been used in space probes and is also being pioneered to liquefy natural gas but this is the first low-level, domestic application.
It is still some way from reaching the market but SCORE (Stove for Cooking, Refrigeration and Electricity) project director Paul Riley said the aim was to make it commercially available on a pilot basis within four years.
"We are hoping to build a million a year after year five -- that's the aspiration -- and the price target we've set ourselves is between 15 and 20 pounds ($30-40) per unit," he told Reuters.
The final cost will depend on the size of unit. One option is to manufacture larger devices capable of powering, for example, a number of laptop computers.
The 2 million pound project is a joint venture between four British universities, international charity Practical Action, U.S.-based Los Alamos National Laboratory and hi-fi company GP Acoustics.
GP Acoustics plans to work with its Philippines partner Dai-ichi Electronics on manufacturing the device as cheaply as possible.
An estimated two billion people, mainly in rural communities in Africa and Asia, use open fires as their primary cooking method but 93 percent of the energy generated in such fires is lost and their smoke can lead to serious health problems.
