Research Shows DME can be Used in Conventional LPG Stoves

MINISTRY OF ENERGY AND MINERAL RESOURCES

REPUBLIC OF INDONESIA

PRESS RELEASE

NUMBER: 294.Pers/04/SJI/2020

Date: 6 October 2020

Research Shows DME can be Used in Conventional LPG Stoves

Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources (EMR) has tested the use of 100 percent Dimethyl Ether (DME) fuel in conventional Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) stoves. This is part of modification made by the EMR Research and Development Agency (Balitbang ESDM) to optimize the use of DME by the public.

"One of the modifications currently made is stove ignition system, especially to burner head and nozzle," said Head of Balitbang ESDM, Dadan Kusdiana, when watching a demo of the modification of LPG stoves for 100 percent DME at the workshop of the Product Application Research and Development Group (KP3) of PPPTMGB "LEMIGAS" last week.

According to Kusdiana, this modification is aimed to enable users of conventional LPG stoves wishing to shift to DME to keep their old stoves. User will only need to buy ignition system spare parts to guarantee better combustion.

Research by Balitbang ESDM shows that the flames of modified stoves are blue and stable, while DME fuel efficiency increases by 10 percent (from 55% to 65%). "DME fuel consumption is 1.3 times more than that of LPG, but smaller than the theoretical calculation of 1.6 times," said Riesta Anggraeni, a researcher at the Product Application KP3.

The testing of 100 percent DME was also applied to 'semawar' stoves--rose like-shaped gas stoves--commonly used by Medium, Small and Micro Enterprises (MSME) and street vendors. The results show that 'semawar' stoves have an ignition system similar to that of conventional LPG stoves. "This proves that semawar stoves, which have used LPG so far, also has the potential to shift to DME," said another researcher at the Product Application KP3, Cahyo Wibowo.

The research on LPG stove modification complies with SNI 7368:2011 on single burner, LPG-fueled gas stoves with ignition system. There are several parameters, including one-hour consumption without load, heat intake, efficiency, the time needed to heat water from initial temperature of 200?C to 900?C, energy consumption to heat water, and calorific value. The efficiency parameter is also used to compare the efficiency of conventional LPG stoves and modified stoves in using LPG and 100% DME. Pans with various sizes between 220-260 mm are used to measure heating.

Modification of the ignition system of LPG stoves have a background in a number of previous research. In 2014, the Product Application KP3 made research on conventional LPG stoves fueled by both a mixture of LPG and DME as well as LPG only. The DME composition varied between 5%, 10%, 15%, 20%, 25%, 30%, and 50%. The parameters used were heat consumption, fuel efficiency, and flame stability.

Overall, the test results show that the higher the DME content in the fuel mixture is, the lower heat intake and stove efficiency are. "Input from researchers include appropriate re-design of gas stoves to ensure the use of DME as fuel won't lower stove performance," concluded Kusdiana. (IY)

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