THE DEPARTMENT of Agriculture’s Information Caravan can be considered highly successful. It should be another feather in the cap of Ms. Jovy Gaton, Head of the Info Division of the Regional Field Unit 6. The DA personnel came in full force, so did the other allied agencies and cooperating agencies. The commercial companies whose products are focused to farming were also there.

One of the booths that gathered a huge crowd was Central Philippine University’s Appropriate Technology Center, an adjunct unit under the College of Agriculture. They brought in a unit of Rice Husk Stove which at first did not draw any attention since it was not operational. The unit was quite heavy and Prof. James Cabarles, CPU’s Desk Officer for the event, was not able to bring with him some rice hulls (labhang) for fuel. He was expecting that it can easily be procured locally.

When finally some rice hulls were brought in by the staff of the Municipal Agriculture Office of Barotac Viejo, the stove drew the attention of everybody. And a huge crowd gathered to see how a waste material such as the ordinary labhang gave intense heat, almost like the LPG stove. In fact, compared to the fire of wood fed to an ordinary stove, the heat generated by the rice hull in CPU’s innovative stove was much more intense. James said that their improved models like the Turbo was even much better, although a bit costlier.

CPU’s rice hull stove’s time has finally come. LPG, the most convenient and once touted as a cheap fuel has become exorbitant, almost out of reach by the ordinary family. The compensating factor however is the low price of LPG stoves some of which are selling at only about P600.00 per two-burner model. But the price of a tank of LPG is now close to P600.00 and a family of six needs a tank per month for its cooking needs.

The stove model that CPU brought to Barotac Viejo during the Info Caravan sells at P1,500.00 and James said that its furnace can last for three years, while the other parts wear out much longer. This means a simple depreciation cost of only about P500.00 per year, at most. It consumes about 3 kilos of rice hulls per hour of cooking but considering that rice hulls don’t cost a thing except for gathering and hauling, the fuel expense is negligible. So at the least, the family who invests in CPU’s rice hull stove will simply have to shell out the initial investment of P1,500.00. Of course, they will spend a bit more on detergents because they may have to scrub off a little more soot generated by the stove. But they will be relieved of a fuel expense of P600.00 per month!

Rice hull stove technology is not new. For the past fifty years, many studies had been conducted on how to better use this latent fuel. The main hindrance to its widespread use is its high silica content that makes it difficult to burn, especially if it’s not so dry.
It is also bulky and researches focused on how it can be made denser so that its combustibility is made more efficient.

Thanks to CPU through the active staff at the Appropriate Technology Center led by Engr. Alex Belonio and Engr. Aries Romallosa. Their research activities focused on utilizing rice hulls and by this time, they have developed models starting with the basic up to the more sophisticated. There are also industrial models designed to replace the use of kerosene in paddy rice driers and for bakery and restaurant applications.

Yes, CPU’s ApproTech Center is quite a beehive these days, according to both Engr. Romallosa and Prof. Cabarles. In fact Engr. Belonio is in Indonesia right now. The center, and, the engineers in their individual capacities are also being tapped as consultants nationwide to build more rice husk stoves and furnaces. Now really, let’s give labhang a second look!

One Response to “CPU’s rice husk stoves”

• 1
  Noel D Jola
  November 20th, 2008 12:39

  I am a resident of Cebu but would like to procure this rice hull stove for my family use. will appreciate if somebody from your end can contact me.

  regards,

  Noel Jola

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