[Stoves] Char from Corn cobs ??

[Cookswell Jikos]

Hi Kevin,

>From my general observations - the typical farmer who buys a kiln to make
maize cob charcoal is small scale and happy to have a seasonal supply -
some are Nairobi based ones who get their village in-laws to make it for
them and they bring it to town after visits, others are upwordly mobile
enough to not want to cook with firewood (also using maize cobs in a 3
stone fire is a painfully smokey affair, worse smoke then firewood...maybe
your pebble grates could help?) where possible. One or two I know of use it
on farm for productive uses like baking bread. The cost savings seem to
really be in the ease of processing it (no cutting of twigs) and a few
people report that if you use it for roasting a bit of meat it can impart a
bit of an ugali taste (!!).

Some of the large farms who have bought them from us are seed maize
producers who shuck the maize cobs by hand, many on that scale though also
do dairy and the cobs are cut up for silage...a few I know of like to burn
them in big piles rather then put them back in the fields for fear of
spreading pathogens or something.

Very interesting to read that they can be briquetted so well!

Best,

Teddy



Teddy Kinyanjui
Sustainability Director



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On Tue, Jan 21, 2020 at 6:09 PM K McLean <info at sun24.solar> wrote:

> Hi Teddy,
>
> Where do your customers collect their cobs?  As Christa points out,
> smallholders usually burn their cobs themselves.  Commercial maize farms
> are successful in Kenya, though.  Do commercial farmers leave the cobs in
> the field as waste - as I have read?
>
> There is a factory in Eldoret that uses cobs to produce chemicals.
> Bio-Corn appears to be closing down, though.  It consumed 60,000 tonnes of
> cobs per year.  I have contacted Bio-Corn to determine its sources of
> cobs.  My guess is that its sources are commercial farms.   This is from an
> article
> <https://www.standardmedia.co.ke/business/article/2001251825/company-to-make-chemicals-from-maize-cobs>
> announcing the opening of the factory:
> *"[T]he factory is expected to be a major boost to maize farmers who can
> now earn from the cobs, which often end up as waste or domestic fuel."*
> [image: image.png]
>
> Sun24 is looking at more efficient ways to burn cobs.  Your Cookswell KCJ
> (Kenya Ceramic Jiko) would work well.  Smallholders already burning cobs
> can increase efficiency by burning them in charcoal jikos like the KCJ.
>
> Maize cobs may be an underutilized, renewable cooking fuel source.  And a
> source for char.
>
> Kevin
>
>
> On Tue, Jan 21, 2020 at 12:28 AM Cookswell Jikos <cookswelljikos at gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
>> Hi Ron,
>>
>> We have quite a few customers here who buy kilns for maize cob charcoal
>> making -
>> http://kenyacharcoal.blogspot.com/2012/10/make-and-use-maize-cob-charcoal.html
>> the wood vinegar from it seems particularly useful in organic farming
>> according to 2 farmers who had bought them.
>>
>> Corn cob charcoal itself is pretty awesome - it burns super fast and hot
>> which makes it good for blending with regular charcoal or quick cooking of
>> things like tea or rice.
>>
>> Best,
>>
>> Teddy
>>
>>
>> Teddy Kinyanjui
>> Sustainability Director
>>
>>
>>
>>              <https://www.facebook.com/CookswellJikos>
>> <https://www.instagram.com/cookswelljikos>
>> <https://twitter.com/cookswelljikos?lang=en>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> On Tue, Jan 21, 2020 at 4:10 AM Ronal Larson <rongretlarson at comcast.net>
>> wrote:
>>
>>> List:
>>>
>>>         Kevin McLean and I have been supporting some research in Uganda
>>> on making char from corn cobs.  They seem perfect to me - the right costs,
>>> shape, and size.  Mostly left in the field, but would be much more valuable
>>> if converted to both energy and char (the latter to go back to the field).
>>>
>>>         Anyone know of any place where this is now happening - in stoves
>>> (TLUD or other)?
>>>
>>>         This is somewhat similar to using rice husks, which is happening
>>> a lot.  Besides corn cobs, what other crop residues should be used for
>>> combined cooking and char-making?
>>>
>>> Ron
>>>
>>>
>>>
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