SeaChar Deluxe Estufa Finca Farm Stove

Target SDGs

Market Suggested Retail Price

$150.00

Target Users (Target Impact Group)

Household

Distributors / Implementing Organizations

SeaChar

Competitive Landscape

Direct competitors include Koko Cooker, Wisdom Stoves MJ, Wisdom Stove M2, SCODE SP-FL Portable, TLUD Champion, Mimi Moto, Lucia Stove, Philips Fan Stove HD4012, AGNI Star Rice Husk Gas Stove, ACE-1 Ultra Clean Biomass Cookstove, and Lean Energy Solutions Cookstove.

Countries

Costa Rica, United States

Manufacturing/Building Method

For 2015,  it was mass produced by SeaChar in the United States, also produced by local micro-businesses in Costa Rica. The Estufa Finca stove is constructed from common materials available in developing countries: a 20 liter (5 gal) combustion chamber made from a metal bucket, surrounded by a shroud formed from galvanized roofing. Fabrication consists of cutting rebar, cans, buckets and shroud materials; drilling holes; snipping tin and de-burring and grinding rough metal edges. Stove assembly consists of fastening stove components with rivets, bolts, and screws. A photo design guide describes manufacturing methods in detail.

Intellectural Property Type

Open-source

User Provision Model

For 2015, users could order the stove from SeaChar online, or from a distributor in Costa Rica. Users can also fabricate the stove using basic tools and materials following the design guide. For 2018, contact SeaChar on their facebook page.

Distributions to Date Status

Unknown.

Design Specifications

Design specifications include a 19 litres (5 gallons) capacity combustion chamber surrounded by a shell of galvanized roofing and an air base with primary air damper to control intake required for a different biomass feedstock removable cooktop. TLUD stoves can accept a variety of dry, woody biomass as fuel. See the GIZ 2013 publication on Micro-gasification for information on size, type, and preparation of appropriate fuels. An additional stove setting structure is recommended to provide a stable and protected platform to house the stove and bring the cooking surface to a desirable height for cooking.

Product Schematics

Technical Support

Unknown

Replacement Components

Unknown

Lifecycle

Unknown

Manufacturer Specified Performance Parameters

According to SeaChar:

• The product creates high quality biochar from a wide range of dry organic input materials.
• Each pound of durable high carbon charcoal removes three pounds of atmospheric carbon from the carbon cycle.
• Biochar stores captured carbon in soils for thousands of years, making this a unique carbon negative energy technology.

Vetted Performance Status

Approvecho Research Center testing results revealed an average emissions profile of 8.24 g CO/kg of dry fuel consumed and 0.18 g PM/kg of dry fuel consumed. Approvecho Research center projects an 83% reduction in Co and a 91% reduction in PM if the Estufa Finca Stove uses the same amount of fuel as a traditional 3-stone fire. In an effort to standardize cookstove performance an International Workshop Agreement (IWA) was established in 2012. The IWA created tiers of cookstove performance in order to communicate technical information more easily to the government, donors, investors, and consumers when making decisions. However, many manufacturers have not tested stoves using the newly adopted IWA performance metrics. See the Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves for more information.

Safety

For 2018, when purchased through SeaChar, detailed instructions on safe stove operation are provided. Wooden handles allow the stove to be handled when hot.

Complementary Technical Systems

None

Academic Research and References

Compliance with regulations

Unknown

Evaluation methods

Water Boiling Test (WBT)

Other Information

Details on the 2010 pilot can be found in the project report.

Recipient of a grant from National Geographic's Great Energy Challenge initiative.

A summary of how micro-gasification stoves work is provided by SeaChar and can be found here.