Advancing Clean Cooking in Sierra Leone
After nearly a year of engineering design work, Burn Design Lab (BDL) and Westwind Energy (WWE) are rolling out a newly improved manufacturing process for the WWE Institutional Stove. This month, BDL’s team of engineers and volunteers are on the ground in Sierra Leone to collaborate with WWE implementing these advancements.
The stove design is a large, side-fed natural draft stove designed for institutional use, primarily schools and community kitchens. Built from stainless or galvanized steel, the stove features a refractory-lined combustion chamber and an angled fuel chute for long wood pieces. Its chimney is designed to extend through the roof, improving ventilation and creating a healthier kitchen environment.
Testing and Impact
In controlled laboratory tests, the stove has demonstrated its efficiency, heating 80 liters of water to 80°C while operating at both high and low power levels. The tests simulate field conditions, showing the stove’s capability to sustain a firepower of 15 kW with consistent fuel feeding. The stove’s custom aluminum pot, weighing 31 kg and holding 114 liters of liquid, is optimized for large-scale cooking.
Beyond the technical achievements, the improved stoves will have a real-world impact. The stove’s enhanced combustion efficiency and energy-saving design will reduce fuel use by up to 50%, which translates to significant savings in cooking costs and time. This is particularly important for school kitchens, where outdated unhealthy cooking methods rely heavily on charcoal and open fires.
Scaling Up for Greater Reach
Currently, over 3,000 schools in Sierra Leone still rely on these traditional cooking methods, putting children and kitchen staff at risk from smoke inhalation and inefficient energy use. The project aims to change that by making clean cooking accessible to thousands of schools through improved stove designs and an optimized manufacturing process.
Key to the project’s success are improvements to WWE's stove production system, which will increase output from 25 to several hundred stoves per month. The improved manufacturing and pot casting systems will also reduce the stove’s production cost making it affordable for more institutions. This will address one of the major barriers to adopting improved cookstoves—their higher price compared to traditional methods. Besides schools, the stoves will be introduced to a broader range of institutions, including orphanages, hospitals, and community centers. This project represents a critical step towards sustainable energy access in Sierra Leone. By improving the stove’s design, production quality, andaffordability, we are one step closer to making smoke-free kitchens the norm in institutional settings.
Cover photo: WWE Institutional Stoves with WWE team members. Above: BDL’s Jeremy Su and Justin Wimpey with WWE Tapsir N’Jai, and manufacturing photos of WWE team members.
Developing the Ceramic Stove
Burn Design Lab (BDL) is developing an innovative all-clay, low temperature-fired stove designed to improve cooking practices for households. This stove is intended to serve as a cost-effective, sustainable alternative to the traditional 3-stone fire method, bridging the gap toward “clean” cooking technologies like electric or gas stoves.
BDL Volunteer Frank Carsey brings his nearly 20 years of ceramic expertise to the design and development of this project. Stove design features being tested include enhanced heat retention, efficient secondary combustion air for reducing harmful particulates and carbon monoxide, and optimal heat transfer to the cooking pot. The stove’s materials will be engineered for robustness in real kitchen environments, with clay modified to improve thermal conductivity and resilience to thermal shock.
One of the most exciting aspects of this project is its affordability. With projected production costs under $8 per unit, including labor, this stove won’t necessarily rely on carbo offset payments to be affordable. The simplicity of the design allows for local in-country production, building capacity in the manufacturing sector and further empowering communities.
The clay stove also offers multiple environmental, economic, and social benefits. Environmentally, it will contribute to reduced deforestation and household air pollution. Economically, it will create new opportunities in manufacturing for women, to generate income through stove production.
Currently we are working to ensure that the stove materials can withstand the daily use and thermal stress of real-life conditions. Eventually, scaling production to meet demand will require locally sourced quality materials efficient logistics to serve rural areas. The ultimate goal is to enable widespread adoption of a lower cost sustainable cooking technology, improving both environmenta
Board of Directors Spotlight: Bob Powell
Burn Design Lab (BDL) has long been a driving force behind clean cooking technologies, thanks in part to the dedication of key volunteers. One such individual, whose journey with BDL began in 2010, has played a pivotal role in the organization’s development. Bob Powell’s involvement started when Peter Scott, founder of BDL, moved to Vashon Island and sought his help to produce prototype parts for a stove being adapted for Haiti. Bob, offering the services of his Meadow Creature's shop, quickly became involved. This relationship quickly grew into a shared mission to tackle the global need for improved cookstoves. Meadow Creature, is best known for its production of broadforks – popular for manually tilling gardens around the world. What is less well known, that that Meadow Creature has also produced thousands of parts cookstove prototypes and tools for, all at no charge to BDL.
As one of BDL's original four board members, Bob remains the only founding member still active, continuing to help guide the organization's evolving mission. Besides a traditional board member role, Bob is often turned to by BDL engineers for his metal working expertise.
The experience has deeply influenced Bob's views on clean energy and global development. As part of the team, he has become increasingly aware of the disparities in energy use worldwide and the complex trade-offs involved in finding sustainable solutions. Despite the challenges, BDL has managed to avoid the pitfalls of many large development projects, particularly energy and agriculture related often come with strings attached that can compromise the long-term benefit.
Through BDL's work, fundamental issues of health, safety, economics, and the environment are being addressed for some of the world's poorest communities—those often overlooked by major funding organizations. The success of BDL, powered by volunteers and a committed team, continues to inspire Bob as he enters his 15th year supporting the organization.
