[Stoves] New type of sawdust stove in Gambia

[Crispin Pemberton-Pigott]

Dear Friends

 

Cecil in Banjul has reported (and I hope has pictures) of a sawdust stove
that uses a novel method of keeping the flame running throughout the burn.
Sawdust stoves, like some gasifiers, are notorious for making a lot of smoke
if anything goes wrong.

 

The cylindrical stove is a 22 cm diameter can with a height of about 25 cm.
There is a side hole that is made by cutting a D-shaped flap. The curved cut
is started about 4 cm from the bottom, curves down and then up again to make
an opening about 8 or 10 cm wide and 4 cm from the bottom. This allows
access to the central hole which is produced by an inverted Coke bottle.

 

After pounding in the sawdust, the opening provided by the side hole is
scooped out using a small stick until the central vertical hole is reached.
The sawdust is lit a the bottom using (in this case) a piece of Styrofoam.
Small sticks are kept burning in the side hole throughout the cooking
period. This is the unusual part.

 

This very small side-fed fire continuously provides a flame to ignite the
smoke that evolves from the sawdust.

 

Later on they put in one larger stick, late in the burn if they want to push
the power up.

 

A full charge will burn for about several hours if allowed to smoulder. A
typical cooking session is about 2 hours. They use huge aluminum pots. It
boiled about 8 litres of tea in 30 minutes later on in the burn.

 

The use of the small sticks as flame providers ensures there is very little
smoke at all during the burn. Quite amazing, apparently.

 

I will send pictures once they arrive.

 

He also reports that there is not a single pot in the Gambia that has no lid
on it, and people look at you as if you are daft to ask whether or not they
use. Good for them. We are daft to ask such a question.

 

Regards

Crispin

 

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