[Stoves] Char from Corn cobs ??

Fri Jan 24 04:51:15 CST 2020

 Dear all
Con cob in Western Kenya is always availableduring harvest season which is between July and December depending with the region'In Busia, Bungoma, Kakamega, Vihiga and some parts of Nyanza cobs are available all seasons but not in large quantity because majority are small scale farmers in those area.In Trans nzioa  and part of Rift Valley province including Eldoret, cobs are found always because the people there are large scale farmers and they do it in hacters of land compared to other parts in Kenya
Small scale farmers will always use the cobd for cooking while others leave them in the field to decay and turn to manure.In Busia and Bungoma where i have sold TLUD stoves many house hold use maize cobs as fuel cooks fast and it's the appropriate size for the stove.

    On Tuesday, January 21, 2020, 8:49:18 PM GMT+3, K McLean <info at sun24.solar> wrote:  

  K McLean (info at sun24.solar) is not on your Guest List | Approve sender | Approve domain
Here is an article on the liquidation of Bio-Corn Products.  I tried calling Bio-Corn today.  The woman who answered confirmed she is with Bio-Corn but had a strong accent (for me) and I could not understand her.  I emailed her but have not heard back yet.  Perhaps someone in Kenya could call her?  (Teddy or Maurice?)  Here is the contact page.
I've tried to research commercial maize farming in Africa.  What I've found on the Internet is scant.  My sense is that some large commercial farmers in some African countries, mainly East Africa, use combines to shell the cobs in the field.  But the combines don't shred the cobs like here in the USA.  The cobs are returned to the field to rot as waste.  And the cobs have little value to the soil, compared to the rest of the stover.
Smaller commercial farmers probably harvest by hand.
Here is a photo from the article above.  Note they are collecting cobs with kernels.  The photo's caption is:  "Maize farmers in Eldoret. Maize cobs are usually disposed of as waste."

There may be vast amounts of renewable fuel that is being wasted.
Kevin

On Tue, Jan 21, 2020 at 12:15 PM Anderson, Paul <psanders at ilstu.edu> wrote:

Teddy and Kevin and  others in Kenya,

The “corn cob as TLUD fuel (in Kenya)” topic clearly needs more information.    Reading between the lines in the article and messages:

1.  60 K tonne of cobs per year would be 5 K tonne per month or 1,250 tonnes per week (ignoring the seasonality of corn harvesting).   They are getting it from somewhere.

2.  Factory “appears to be closing down” (please confirm), but it only started operations in  Oct 2017, but it was “purchased [from the former] Kenya Furfural Company plant from its receiver managers Ernst & Young..”   Seems to have a troubled history.

3.  But this area (around Eldoret, Kenya) would  seem to be a great place to have a TLUD stove project (and industry) with maize cobs as the abundant fuel.

But projects require having competent people on the ground and in charge.   And a sponsor to get things rolling.   There are at least two sources of TLUD stoves.  The closest is Maurice Onyango in Bungoma (who is receiving a copy of this message.)

And back to the main question:  What is the key to having such abundant corn cobs?   Only answer suggested thus far is commercial maize farming.   Apparently with  harvesting of whole ears (not shelling in combines in the fields and throwing  away the cobs).   Is this not occurring elsewhere?   

Paul

From: Stoves <stoves-bounces at lists.bioenergylists.org>On Behalf Of K McLean
Sent: Tuesday, January 21, 2020 9:07 AM
To: Discussion of biomass cooking stoves <stoves at lists.bioenergylists.org>
Subject: Re: [Stoves] Char from Corn cobs ??

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 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."

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

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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