As recognition for excellence in technology transfer, Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) at the Department of Energy, Colorado State University and Envirofit International were honored with a Federal Laboratory Consortium (FLC) award for designing a clean-burning cookstove.
Envirofit, a global specialist in design, manufacture and distribution of clean cookstoves, was in need of a low-cost metal alloy for use in combustor component. The component used in the cookstove design had to withstand temperatures ranging up to 1650°F under corrosive conditions. Hence, in 2007, Colorado State and Envirofit approached ORNL to receive assistance for selecting cheaper metal combustor alloy.
ORNL team, led by Mike Brady, found a class of inexpensive iron-based alloys that had an ability to meet the requirement of Envirofit. ORNL offered additional support to the company by providing impurity tolerance input and alloy specification. Also, higher characterization of corrosion products on field-tested and laboratory metal combustor parts had been performed by ORNL. Assistance was also offered to reach durability targets without increasing the metal alloy cost.
Till date, Envirofit has sold over 150,000 G-3300 stoves globally. When compared to traditional cooking stoves, Envirofit’s products decrease cooking time by nearly 50%. Other benefits are reduction in fuel consumption by about 60% and decrease in smoke and unsafe gases by up to 80%.
Source: http://www.ornl.gov/