With the heightened awareness on global warming and climate change, the focus is moving towards cleaner, greener, energy-efficient and sustainable technologies. India, for instance, plans a big natural gas push to raise its use from the current 6% to 15% by the year 2030.
The emphasis now on lowering the carbon footprint and there is now a serious double down on the efforts to develop renewable energy sources. Hotels, restaurants and other commercial establishments are investing in biogas plants and bio-CNG.
AgniSumukh, a multiple award-winning, clean-tech start-up in Bengaluru, is driven by innovation, design and technology to manufacture total solutions for radiant heat applications in kitchens that are driven by LPG, natural gas and bio-gas (gases that emit 45% less CO2 than coal, but are still higher than renewable energy sources).
Conserving fuel
Hari Rao, the founder of AgniSumukh (Friendly Face of Fire) Energy Solutions, has an interest in kitchens in general and particularly stoves, which stems from his observations that there is scope for improvement in most equipment, and that blue flame burners had low heat efficiency and operate at high gas pressure.
He noted that in industrial equipment, the layers of carbon soot deposit acted as an insulator and reduced heat efficiency.
The firm now offers a wide range of solutions that look at giving a better kitchen experience. Its range of products include cooking ranges, burner systems, bratt pan (a heavy-duty commercial cooking appliance that is able to perform up to eight cooking functions) and tandoors that are designed to work under low pressure.
The equipment has automated controls and ensures faster cooking, with the additional benefit of low maintenance.
AgniSumukh’s burners are designed to beat the limitations that conventional blue flame burners face, including variable heat and temperature output. It eliminates the smell of rotten eggs, does not require certain pressure for operating, and can be switched to LPG when required.
“The natural propensity of flame and heat is to remain concentrated in the centre,” says Rao, “But, with our innovation, this tendency is regulated and the flame spreads evenly by turning into uniform radiant heat through convection and radiation mechanism.”
The burner can be controlled and a timer can be incorporated to automatically switch off after a pre-set time. It has been tested for thermal efficiency and is certified under IS 14612.
Versatile burners
While cooking on gas fuel, a person usually touches the cook pot to know how much heat is inside it. This has its limitations as cook pots are usually hot inside and colder out.
However, while cooking on AgniSumukh stoves, the burners emit far infra-red rays (FIR) invisible light, which is the safest, most beneficial light wave. FIR is superior to other cooking options like microwave and induction that operate only at a frequency of between 300 MHz and 300 GHz.
Microwave needs transparent cook pots, and induction stoves need a metal medium for its magnetic waves. But on AgniSumukh burners, there are no such restrictions as it works on all varieties of cook pots.
The superior features of the products from the company have caught the attention of the hospitality industry and several hotel chains across the country including the Taj Group, ITC Hotels, among others, have installed these products.
“Our list of clients using our cooking range includes Rashtrapati Bhavan and the kitchen in the Prime Minister’s Office,” says Sandeep Jain, Chief Marketing Officer of the company. “This only goes to prove the wide acceptance and credibility of our products.” (info@agnisumukh.com).
