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Better biomass residue fuel cakes by N. Kamalamma et al.

Boiling Point
Front cover of Boiling Point issue 33
Issue 33 (1994) Household Energy Developments in Asia
ArticleBetter biomass residue fuel cakes
AuthorN. Kamalamma, M. Saitharani
Infrastructural deficiencies and in addition, a slow pace of dissemination. The energy problem remains acute, however, and demands multidimensional intervention from different fronts. One of the most viable propositions is the manufacture of fuel cakes made from cellulosic waste and cowdung. Their effectiveness was tested with some farmers' families in the villages around Gandhigram.

[top] [end]Making the cake

The fuel cake is made of combustible rubbish found around the home such as sweepings, litter and waste paper, using cowdung as the binding material. The waste material is mixed with cowdung in the ratio of I :3 by weight, and is then kneaded well. A 3cm-diameter cylindrical rod is held upright in the centre of the mould (a metal stove) while the mixture is poured in and packed tightly round it so as to leave no air spaces. The moulded cake is then pushed out carefully and dried in the open air.

It takes 375g of cowdung (wet weight) and 125g of waste to make one fuel cake. After drying, the weight will have reduced to around 250g. At an ambient temperature of 30 to 33°C the drying process takes seven days to complete. The dried cake, being compacted, can then be stacked conveniently.

When ready to use, the dried cake is inserted into the stove that has been used as the mould and is lit at the centre. The flame should be regulated with a log of firewood, fed through the side hole. The cake burns from the inside with a blue flame, emitting very little smoke. One cake will burn steadily for about five and a half hours.

The thermal efficiency of a stove burning this dried fuel cake is 38% compared with 12% for a stove using conventional flat dung cakes. The cylindrical fuel wall acts as insulation and reduces the loss of heat through conduction.
Moulding the fuel cake
Moulding the fuel cake


For a family of six, a day's cooking can be completed using only one fuel cake. To put out the flame, the log of wood is pulled out, and a little water is sprinkled on the inner side of the cake. The ash residue from beneath the stove is soft and clean adn can be used for cleaning utensils. Very little soot is deposited on the sides of the cooking pots. Fuel cakes also help to prevent teh accidents that occus when the flames rise about the top of a conventional stove.

Comments from users include: 'there in no smoke while burning'; 'it burns like a kerosene stove'; 'the exertion needed for cooking is reduced'; 'the fuel can be stored conveniently'; and 'rubbish from around the house becomes usable'. The negative aspects reported centred around the amount of time needed for cake to dry. Overall, the technology proved to be sound and acceptable.

[top] [end]Contents: Boiling Point 33: Household Energy Developments in Asia

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Asian stove programmes as seen by ARECOP - Stove work in Nepal- Nepals Community Forestry Development Programme - The Anagi - successful Sri Lankan stove - Next steps for Sri Lanka stove programmes - Cookstove programme in Indonesia - Keralas Parishad chulha programme - Magan Chulha - Kallupatti - Sukad - The Philippines Improved Stove Programme 1995-2000 - The Vientiane energy switch - Asian Regional Wood Energy Development Programme - What makes people cook with improved stoves - A steel and concrete stove for Nicaragua - Zimbabwes Sloven woodstove - Better biomass residue fuel cakes - Photovoltaics for Senegal - Ethanol stoves for Mauritius - Will people change their diets to save fuel - The better bonfire







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Page created: 24 August 2007; Last edited: 01 December 2008; Version: 1
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Pagename: BetterBiomassResidueFuelCakes @HEDON: DYGA