[Stoves] Biomass Cooking Stoves Site in Back Online

[Paul S. Anderson]

Dear A.D.,

Quoting adkarve <adkarve at pn2.vsnl.net.in>:

> I am just back from a workshop organised by Asia Regional Cookstove
> Programme (ARECOP) in Pak Chong, Thailand.

snip....

> One Dr. Shreedhar from Indian Institute of
> Science, Bangalore, India, also attended the workshop as a resource person.
> He talked about torrefiying wood.

Torrefying!!!!   Please explain HOW MUCH torrification is needed to do 
what you
describe below.  You are saying that you take waste biomass like sugarcane
leaves and create some "torrified intermediate biomass" (which would have very
low moisture).  Please tell about the amount of heat, time in the "torrifier",
type(s) of torrifiers, etc.

Then you are making the torrified biomass into briquettes.  How are you making
the briquettes (amount of pressure, type of press, etc)?  What makes the
materials stick together?  What sizes are you able to make?  (I would like
about 2 to 3 cm diameter and 2 to 5 cm length.)  THAT briquette made from
torrified biomass still has most of its hydrocarbons intact, so, as you 
say, it
will burn/pyrolyze/act-like-woody-fuel.  Yes, Yes, YES!!!  That should be a
great fuel for the TLUDs!!! (Might also be good for other stoves as well if
they can operate with the "chunky" types of fuels).  The gasifiers excel with
the chunky fuels!!!   And you get the charcoal!!   Is the charcoal coming out
in well-shaped pieces (miniatures of the briquettes??).  Or is the char loose
and flaky?

The bottom line is, how much effort and heat is needed to make the torrified
biomass, and then to make the briquettes?  If the waste heat from "stoves"
(what goes up the chimney) can be used to do most of the torrification, 
then we
really have a low-cost way to make true-waste biomass into something 
that can be
made into briquettes that have good value.

I look forward to your reply, and to seeing you at PCIA.  I hope that Dr.
Shreedhar from Indian Institute of Science will also be there to tell more
about torrification.

Paul    (below is your key comment)

> After his lecture, I conducted an
> experiment with the help of the trainees to torrefy leaves with the
> oven-and-retorts  kiln that was constructed in Pak Chong as a demonstration
> model. Leaf litter collected from underneath the local trees could be
> torrefied very easily by using my kiln and the torrefied material could also
> be easily extruded into briquettes. The briquettes burned like wood with a
> tall flame and they also produced smoke, but this process opens up the
> possibility of converting dry leaves of sugarcane and other agricultural
> waste into fuel that can be used in a T-LUD type of stove. The residue can
> still be used as charcoal.
> Yours
> A.D.Karve
> -- 
Paul S. Anderson, Ph.D., Geography professor - Emeritus
Telephone:  USA-309-452-7072 (residence and office)
Internet site:  www.ilstu.edu/~psanders
For my gasifier stoves info, go to:
http://bioenergylists.org/contributors#Paul_Anderson



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