TLUD Cookstove

Introduction:

The TLUD (Top-Lit UpDraft) cookstove is a low-emission, fuel-efficient biomass stove that converts agricultural residues into clean heat for cooking and into nutrient-friendly biochar for soil. It reduces indoor air pollution, lowers fuel needs, and creates a practical pathway to improve soil health while recovering value from crop residues.

How it works:

The stove is lit from the top. Heat causes the biomass below to undergo pyrolysis, releasing combustible gases that burn cleanly in a hot combustion zone. The result: an efficient flame, much less smoke, and a leftover char that can be used to improve soil.

Key benefits:

• Health: Greatly reduces smoke and harmful indoor air pollutants compared with open-fire cooking.
• Fuel savings: Higher thermal efficiency means households use less firewood or crop residue per meal.
• Soil health: Generates biochar that, after simple activation, improves soil water holding, nutrient retention and long-term carbon storage.
• Local value: Uses local agricultural residues (for example, cotton stalks), reduces open-field burning, and can create small local enterprises around stove assembly, fuel preparation and biochar activation.