Week 1 Stove Development

This week, the stove group spent 4 days in the AISE workshop with Bernard further refining the stove design. It was exciting finally getting to see and test the hard work of the spring travelers after only reading about it and seeing pictures of it last term. After an initial test, we started to make modifications to alleviate concerns brought up while our group was in Hanover or by the Spring travelers.

(Note: The tests we have been performing have been using sawdust. As of this moment, we have not yet been able to acquire coffee husk in addition to the fact that sawdust is readily and cheaply available. Future design plans hope to be able to burn fuels regardless of their density e.g. both coffee husk and sawdust)

In development of the stove during this trip, we are focusing more on how to make this stove viable in the marketplace. Concerns that were apparent to us was the overall cost of the stove (at ~45,000 TSH while our target is 20,000-30,000 TSH), the need to replace the inner wire mesh insert (due to the lack of durability of wire mesh), and the length of burn (which at ~1 hour is not sufficient to prepare traditional food). We have been inspired by the Kisangani Sawdust Stove produced by the Kisangani Smith Group (KSG). This stove has been very successful as a cost effective stove, lacking our wire mesh design, and producing an incredible burn duration of 6 hours. Initial distribution has also been incredibly successful. We have reached out to KSG and they have an extended an invitation to meet in person and speak about their project. If time permits on this trip, we would be very interested in traveling to Kisangani and meeting KSG.

From the initial burn, we noted that the stove burned hot and steady for about an hour but was not a particularly clean burn. When analyzing the new design of the Spring travelers, we guessed that the additional outer holes in the bottom of the stove that vent air into the fuel bed were inhibiting proper pyrolysis and causing some of the improper combustion. Using one of plates from an old stove, we covered (and have continued to cover) these outer holes. Burns showed that this did not make a marked difference in the burn temperature or time but slightly improved the cleanness of the burn.

Keeping the Kisangani design in mind the next day, we tried to pack our fuel much like how it is packed in the Kisangani stove. We removed the wire mesh insert and placed a small wood log in the middle of the stove before loading the fuel. As we loaded the fuel into the fuel canister, we compressed the fuel. After completely filling the canister, the log was carefully twisted and pulled out leaving an intact chimney. Initial tests were tremendously exciting. We achieved burns of over 1.5 hours (time was limited due to the working hours of the workshop on the day of that test, but much fuel was left unburned) that were very hot with almost no smoke produced. The burn continued steadily without tending which was a major concern in previous models. We were tremendously excited about the possibility of removing the wire mesh from our design as well as the longer burn time initially exhibited before the test was stopped.

However, the initial success proved not to be repeatable. For the same afternoon, we only made one modification, hammering out the flanges on the plate we attached to the bottom of the stove to allow more primary air to reach the stove. The subsequent test that afternoon started with the same intensity, but stopped only 10 minutes into the test. Due to the high wind that afternoon and the fact that the flanges probably played some role in mitigating the effect of wind in the previous test, we concluded that the wind of the day limited the success of that test.

Unfortunately since then, the 3 tests we have run have not produced the same strong burn of the first day. Modifications we have made have been to cut the center of the bottom of the stove out to allow increased primary air and to hammer the flanges on the plate back down to imitate that initial successful test. From these tests, we have noted 2 major issues currently. First, with the pot on the stove, it seems as there is insufficient updraft to provide the necessary oxygen for combustion. Each time we place the pot on the stove, the burn will stop within 3 minutes. Without the pot on, the stove will continue burning for longer. Second, it seems as though the white ash building on the center of the chimney insulates the unburned fuel from air and heat.

During this last week, we were tantalized by the single very successful test that produced most of the characteristics we want our final product to have. In the coming week, we will continue trying to reproduce that successful test. Furthermore, we are planning on attempting to recreate the Kisangani stove to better understand their successes and how to improve upon them. We are hoping this next week will prove fruitful towards development of our final product.

Visit with Didas and EMORG

The community library under construction

       Last Tuesday, Aneesh and I got a chance to meet Didas, co-founder of EMORG and build on a relationship started by the Spring travelers. Didas graciously picked us up and drove out 25 minutes to the village of Kisongo where EMORG has began to build facilities to aid the education of the village children. Under construction was a community library to be filled with donated books, discussion centers for guided discussion of what the children had learned, as well as classrooms for enrichment courses on the weekends. EMORG and Didas's vision is that they can motivate children and enrich their education through these buildings and hiring teachers. Then, the stanard of living will hopefully rise with the increasing education level of the community.

In addition to hearing about EMORG's future goals, we also clarified the DHE bioenergy project's place in those plans. Part of the educational aims of EMORG involves motivating locals to design and innovate to solve every day problems. Didas believes that the stove project would be an ideal model project to present to the community as an example of a product designed to serve community needs. Outside of the community library, there will be several booths set up to present the work of EMORG's various collaborators. Didas expressed his desire for us to present our ongoing work and create a permanent display of the stove project in one of the booths. As a group in a part of an academic institution, we would be greatly excited to help in the education of local children.  

Additionally, Didas and EMORG's strong connections within Kisongo and various other small communities present other possibilities directly related to the stove. For example, Didas and serveral locals who saw us visiting expressed interest in our project and would be excited to test it given the high cost of charcoal in Kisongo. Furthermore, Didas noted that there is a very popular weekly marketplace that serves Kisongo and the surrounding communities. There is a possibility of marketing our technology or doing demonstrations in a stand of the market. Didas expressed hopes that once our design is presented in public and has started being used, citizens will naturally develop the stoves on their own.

On the drive home with Didas, we noticed an extensive coffee plantation bordering a village near Kisongo. We expressed interest in the coffee husk this plantation produces as well as working with the people living on the plantation. Because EMORG is coincidentally moving their offices to this exact village, Didas was able to introduce us to the village leaders. Upon hearing our plans and goals, the village leaders  approved of our worked there and sought to set a meeting between us, them, and the people of the plantation. We are very excited to meet with them soon and see how we can help this community with our projects.

Our visit with Didas and EMORG was a very useful and fruitful visit. It clarified our collaboration with EMORG as well as showed us possible sites for user testing of the coffee husk stove in Kisongo and the nearby plantation. We look forward to working with EMORG and Didas in the future with educational outreach and user testing in local villages.

- Kevin

VICOBA Visits

Thursday, 6/21 Amelia and I attended the King'ori VICOBA meeting with Sule of EARD-CI acting as liaison and translator. After introducing ourselves we asked the ten women present a few questions and collected some of their locally available biomass, namely dead corn leaves. They are interested in briquetting as a way to save money on their considerable fuel expenditures as well as conserve the environment by using waste materials. They reiterated the cost of 6,000 TZS per week for firewood reported by DHE's 12S trip. They indicated an average weekly income of 20,000 shillings.  Using this figure to estimate labor cost and following the Legacy Foundation's recommendations to price briquettes fifteen percent above labor cost, as well as their assumptions of 750 briquettes produced and 15 used per day, using briquettes for cooking would theoretically cost under 100 TZS per day versus 860 TZS per day currently spent on firewood. Given that all ten women are interested in the technology and said they would be willing to contribute 2-3 hours daily to briquette making, the production estimate, based on a team of six, is reasonable. The use estimate, based on a family size of 6, would have to be adjusted given an accurate survey of family size in the region as well as the specific burn characteristics of the local briquettes.

Monday, 6/25, we visited the Lulu VICOBA in the community of Nkoarisombo with Naomie and Faraja of EARD-CI. Immediately upon entering the meeting, we could see that they had constructed their own compound lever press. The press cost 60,000 TZS, approximately 40 USD. We inquired about the progress of their material processing, learning that they had begun collecting paper, sawdust, and banana leaf and composting these materials for use in a briquette mixture. They offered to show us their compost pile at their meeting next Monday. The community grows bananas, coffee, corn, and beans, offering a wide variety of organic matter available at differing times throughout the year. They stated 10,000 TZS per week as the income of the low-income families within the VICOBA, although this is certainly not average, as the spring group reported fuel expenditures of 14,000 TZS weekly. While income figures remain unclear, the higher fuel costs mean that this VICOBA would see an even greater economic benefit from replacing firewood with fuel briquettes than King'ori. The group indicated they want to meet for one two hour session weekly for briquette making, essentially as an extension of their existing meeting. This hardly seems like enough time to make a substantial amount of briquettes, but their actions to organize materials and build the production apparatus suggest a group that is highly motivated to initiate a briquetting project.

We were unable to meet with the Bonderi VICOBA due to internal problems. The persistence of such problems makes it a difficult and unlikely place for us to continue our work.

-Nik

First Meeting with EARD-CI

During our first visit with EARD-CI, we met the staff and were reintroduced to their program with VICOBAs, Village Community Banks. We were also introduced to PETS, Public Expenditure Tracking System, a project looking at the success of government expenditures in the agricultural sector. The briquetting project goals for this summer aim to work with a VICOBA to create a pilot project. One VICOBA, Lulu, has shown a lot of interest in briquetting and could possibly build a press for around 40,000 TSH (about $20 US). This is great news for briquetting, because we aim to make briquetting cheap and accessible to as many people possible. EARD-CI mentioned that some VICOBAs may have enough money to buy more expensive technologies like a mechanical briquette press, so our group may choose to research this further for the summer.

Another group project goal for the summer includes developing an ideal biomass mixture for regions around Arusha, Tanzania. We tested the briquette mixture the Spring 2012 group created for demonstrations and found that the briquettes burned but produced a lot of ash without a flame. We determined that briquettes constructed out of paper, sawdust, and rice husk mixture were not ideal for cooking. Thus, our goal is to spend the next few weeks creating a mixture that produces a flame with low smoke emissions. Edith, one staff member at EARD-CI, mentioned a man, John, in Lushoto (a few hours away from Arusha) has been working with carbonated and non-carbonated biomass materials for a briquetting in his community. We plan on traveling out to the area and talking to John to learn more about successful briquetting projects and get his insight on our own project.

We also began a compost pile soon after arriving, since composting will take a few weeks. Once composting is complete, we will be able to begin testing optimal biomass mixtures. So far, we have begun composting rice husks, paper, saw dust, and dried corn leaves.  Our plan for the next few days is to travel to the VICOBAs and determine levels of interest and biomass materials present so we may choose the best VICOBA for a pilot project. We plan on visiting King’ore on Thursday, and Lulu and Bonderi on Monday.

Summer Travelers Introduction

The 12X travelers will be working with coffee husk stoves, briquetting, rocket stoves, and biogas projects this summer. Here's a quick introduction of each of the travelers:

Nik Ortman '13
Trip Leader

Nik is a '13 Engineering Sciences major from Whitefish, MT. He has been involved in DHE since the fall of 2011 and will be the biogas project leader next fall. He is interested in alternative energy/fuels and will be primarily working on the briquetting project this summer, as well as doing some assessment for future biogas installations. At Dartmouth, Nik is the house manager of Bones Gate fraternity and works various on-campus jobs. He is an avid skier and also enjoys hiking, soccer, reading, and knitting among other creative pursuits. 


Aneesh Chuttani '15

Aneesh Chuttani is a '15 at Dartmouth College, interested in majoring in engineering. Along with D.H.E, Aneesh he enjoys playing soccer on the green, going for hikes, and playing the piano. His favorite aspect of Dartmouth is the close community, and especially enjoys the Dartmouth spirit during homecoming weekend. For the summer trip, he is excited to build and experience Tanzanian culture. He also looks forward to learning more about development and the economics related to alternative energy systems. He has traveled previously to Europe, India, Cambodia, Peru and Brazil. 

Amelia Ritger '15

Amelia is studying Biology at Dartmouth. In addition to her involvement with Dartmouth Humanitarian Engineering, she is on the Dartmouth Women's Ultimate B-Team, Princess B-Ride. She hopes to get more involved with DOC (Dartmouth Outing Club) next year, a campus outdoor enthusiast group, and take advantage of New Hampshire's natural beauty. In her free time, Amelia enjoys playing tennis, hiking, skiing, and reading. The trip to Tanzania will be Amelia's first major experience with international travel. During this summer, Amelia hopes to learn more about Tanzanian culture and expand her own understanding of human centered design while on the briquetting project.


Kevin Chen '15

Kevin Chen is majoring in Government and Economics. On campus at Dartmouth, he's a clarinetist in the Dartmouth Symphony Orchestra,  DAO Culture Night Co-Chair in Dartmouth Asian Organization, as well as members of the Agapé Christian fellowship, Dartmouth Society for Investment and Economics, and Dartmouth Humanitarian Engineering. If Kevin has any free time at all, you will find him lounging on the green with friends, doing something related to music, or enjoying the beauty around Hanover. During his short time at Dartmouth, Kevin's gotten a chance to meet some truly amazing people inside these groups and just around campus. What has been most refreshing has been how Kevin's peers have such big dreams and work tirelessly at those aims like his fellow posters here! For this trip, Kevin's looking forward to immersing himself in Tanzanian culture and getting to know as many people as possible to learn how to best serve them. He'll be focusing primarily on the Coffee Husk Stove project as well as considering economically sustainable distribution schemes in the Tanzanian communities the group will be visiting.