Volt from the flue

Ashraf has developed a prototype of the cooker-generator now on display at the ‘Kalaburgi Kampu’ science exhibition here. A simple mechanism makes the steam escaping from the cooker to rotate an armature, generating electricity that can charge your cellphone or power a radio.

It was the power shortage at his uncle’s farmhouse that roused the Edison in Ashraf. Thinking of a mechanism that can generate power at home by using household implements, led him to make a turbine-like structure by attaching blades of a fan to a metal cylinder containing an armature. The steam escaping the cooker drives the blades of the fan to rotate the armature of a dynamo, producing electricity.

The system, which could be attached to the top cover of the cooker, generates half a watt of power whenever the cooker whistles. The Science Department of Kottala Basaveshwara Institution has put the model on display.

Patent attempt
“We have furnished the details of innovation to the National Invention Foundation and are attempting to secure a patent,” Sami Haider, the coordinator of the Department, told Deccan Herald.

He said while many had suggested that they enter into an understanding with pressure cooker makers for commercial exploitation of the idea, it was their objective to ensure that common man is benefited from the advantages of the inventions.