Guatemalan Plancha Stove
Cooking using inefficient biomass stoves and open fires has many medical, social, economic, and environmental implications. Women are overwhelmingly impacted adversely by these effects because in developing countries they perform all of the cooking.
This project was conducted for my thesis at Politecnico di Milano in conjunction with Burn Design Lab based in Vashon, WA and Hands for Peacemaking based in Guatemala.
Impact Areas
Climate and Environment
Inefficient combustion releases greenhouse gasses into the environment. Deforestation causes increases in CO2 and ecological devastation.
Health
Exposure to Particulate Matter (PM) and Carbon Monoxide (CO) can have long term respiratory effects. Unsafe stoves and open fires can results in severe burns (especially among children)
Livelihoods
Cookstoves have the potential to be powerful stimulants of local economies and promote large strides towards in-country development of both manufacturing and commerce infrastructures.
Women and Gender
The gender dynamic associated with current cooking norms in developing countries can leave women and girls perpetually disadvantaged medically, intellectually, and economically.
Engineering Design
The engineering design of this product focused on improving the combustion, particularly through the product weight and airflow pathways. The following images show the complexity of the airflow paths, which simultaneously cool the exterior of the stove while also controlling the quantity and temperature of the oxygen before it reaches the combustion chamber.
Design for Manufacturing
The DFM focused on creating a product that could be effectively produced in country using available tools and assembly methods. This includes plasma cutting, sheet metal bending, welding, and riveting.
Final Design
The final design of the stove seeks to provide the user with a modern and warm product that offers improvements in customizability, efficiency, and usability.
