Abstract:
This study was aimed to analyze indoor PM2,5, CO, and CO2 concentrations due to utilization of biomass stove, and to calculate fuel consumption efficiency of some biomass fuels. Both briquette and non-briquette biomass fuels from coconut shell and firewood were used in this study. Water boiling test (WBT) method was conducted to simulate cooking process. The measurement of PM2,5 was done by using low volume sampler, while gas analyzer was utilized for measuring CO and CO2. Measurement results show that the concentrations of those three pollutants were still in compliance with national indoor air quality standard based on the Minister of Health Regulation No. 1077/2011, when the briquette fuels were used in the biomass stove. On the other hand, the use of non-briquette fuels resulted in higher air pollutant concentrations than the indoor air quality standard, particularly for PM2,5 and CO parameters. The comparison between coconut shell and firewood briquettes showed that pollutant concentrations from both biomass fuels were not significantly different, although the firewood briquettes exhibited slightly lower pollutant concentrations. Furthermore, the measurement of fuel consumption efficiency indicated that briquette fuels had higher efficiency than that of non-briquette ones. In this study, the highest fuel consumption efficiency was identified for firewood briquette utilization. From these lines of evidence, it can be concluded that the use of biomass briquette can reduce indoor air pollution and increase fuel consumption efficiency that more or less will contribute to the increase of natural resource utilization, particularly related to the management of a watershed.
