[Stoves] New type of sawdust stove in Gambia

[Richard Stanley]

Rok and Crispin, 

Sorry you guys never met  the Vicky Akello's, Mary and Francis Kavita's, Charles Onyando's MArgareth and Zaugia's  and and the  thousands of others in teh villages making and selling briquettes for a living, using their own local insights based on their onw knowledge of their own resources about what works and what does not..
All (western) science and analysis in, we all flounder without their insights, beleive me. 

Its true tha the stick prolongs the flame and averts smouldering  --if the rsoruces are not carefully selected. Its equally true that sticks can be an impediment to a really good burn in that they are robbing the hole of needed oxygen--again , if the resources have been carefully selected –and that implies working with–not for– the producer to learn from them....

pressing on, 
Richard Stanley


On Aug 9, 2011, at 11:08 PM, Rok Oblak wrote:

> Hi Crispin, very interesting application for briquettes as well
> 
> I was using a similar technique, where the sticks were inserted from underneath of the horizontally laid briquettes with the vertical hole in the middle (same thing as a sawdust stove). It kept the flames going all the time. 
> 
> http://holeyroket.files.wordpress.com/2009/07/img_62071.jpg
> http://holeyroket.files.wordpress.com/2009/07/img_62021.jpg
> 
> In that case in Malawi this was used for 2 reasons; one being the poor quality briquettes that weren't burning well and the other that with more or less sticks pushed in, you were able to regulate the fire output as with the 3-stones fire that people were already used to cook with.. Check these photos for a reference. Very little help was needed, but it was quite essential to prevent the smoke - same as you're saying
> 
> I also found myself pushing a stick right through a briquette sometimes with the new side-fed briquette stove, its good for keeping up the fire with no smoke at the startup.. you think it could be beneficial making bigger holes higher up the combustion chamber or it would cool the air in the combustion chamber too much maybe when the sticks would not be inserted? Worth trying though
> 
> Cheers
> Rok
> 
> On Tue, Aug 9, 2011 at 10:21 PM, Crispin Pemberton-Pigott <crispinpigott at gmail.com> wrote:
> 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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> 
> -- 
> Rok Oblak, MAA Design
> 
> +1 604 710 1615
> rok.stoves at gmail.com
> www.holeyroket.com
> 
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