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The Millennium Fuel Briquette Handbook

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THE MILLENNIUM FUEL

Hand Book
African Fund for Endangered Wildlife (Kenya) Ltd. is a not for profit
organization based at the Giraffe Centre. It is dedicated towards
promoting conservation of the environment through education and
supports sustainable conservation projects all over Kenya. AFEW is run by
a voluntary Board of Directors who serve under the trust of the people of
Kenya.

OUR VISION

To be the leading wildlife conservation education organization

for the youth of Kenya.

OUR MISSION

To provide Environmental Education programmes to help wildlife

conservation efforts with a special emphasis on endangered species and
promote sustainable environmental conservation.
 AFRICAN FUND FOR ENDANGERED WILDLIFE KENYA LIMITED
GIRAFFE CENTRE

P. O. Box 15124‐00509, Nairobi, Kenya

Tel: +254 20 8070804 / 0723 786165 / 0734 890952
Email: info@giraffecenter.org | education@giraffecenter.org
Website: www.giraffecenter.org

© African Fund For Endangered Wildlife Kenya Limited

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in

a retrieval system, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical,
photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior
written permission of the publisher.

First Edition 2013

Published by:
African Fund For Endangered Wildlife Kenya Limited

Design & Printed by:

Lavinda Limited
P. O. Box 13819‐00100, Nairobi, Kenya
Tel: 020 311275 | Cell: 0734 898490
Email: info@lavinda.net
This hand book was compiled by the Education Department, AFEW Kenya Ltd.

Editorial Team

1. Emmanuel Ngumbi AFEW Kenya Ltd.

2. George Njagi AFEW Kenya Ltd.
3. Judith Sembe AFEW Kenya Ltd.
4. Kelvin Papai AFEW Kenya Ltd.
5. Shirley Sirima AFEW Kenya Ltd.
6. Mary Njenga UoN and ICRAF

African Fund for Endangered Wildlife Kenya Ltd. – Giraffe Centre would like to thank
the following individuals who contributed to the development of the teaching and
learning materials in this Resource Pack.

1. Ann Kirori International Climate Challenge

2. Simon Munywe Kayole Environmental Management Association
3. Dickson Nyamboka Reuben Community School
4. Laura Clough GVEP International
5. Peter Thuo Green Technology
6. Petronilla Gatwiri Mt. Kenya University
TABLE OF CONTENT

Background information 2
Rationale 3
State of Energy Consumption in Kenya 3
Briquette Making Machines 4
Briquette Making Materials and Binders 5
How to make fuel briquettes 5
Quality Control 8
Uses and benefits of fuel briquettes 9
• How to light a briquette 9
• Uses of briquette 9
• Other uses of briquette 9
Benefits of using Briquettes 10
Relevant Case Studies of Briquette Use 11
Conclusion 13
References 14

1
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
Fuel briquette is a solid fuel made from a variety of waste materials such as charcoal
from low density wood, forestry waste materials, domestic wastes, agricultural
residues and paper as well as any type of biomass waste. Wastes are materials that
are not prime products (products produced for the market) for which the initial user
has no further use in terms of his or her own purposes of production, transformation or
consumption, and of which he/she wants to dispose.(Basel Convention)

Waste can be a resource if properly managed. This can be done through recycling of
materials like plastics and composting through the conversion of biodegradable
waste into manure. Similarly, a combination of waste paper, charcoal dust, clay and
dry leaves can be used to make an alternative source of fuel called a briquette.
Briquetting is the process which converts these low density biomass into high density
and energy concentrated fuel briquettes.

The Industrial methods of briquetting dates back o the second part of the 19th
Century. Briquetting of sawdust and other materials became widespread in many
countries in Europe and America during the Second World War due to the impact of
fuel shortage. The use of organic fuel briquettes mainly in industries was rejuvenated
during the period of high energy in the 1980's especially in USA, Canada and
Scandinavian countries.

In many developing countries, briquettes produced from biomass residues are a

viable good quality fuel for cooking (Satonnde et al., 2010).

2
Rationale
The art of briquetting and utilization helps to save our remaining forest cover which
makes a great contribution to the fight against climate change and contribution
towards achievement of the MDGs, sustainable development, and creation of
employment, poverty reduction and cleaner energy. General experiences suggest
that briquettes are a good substitute for fire wood and charcoal, for instance Njenga
et.al 2013 reports that charcoal dust briquette bonded with soil burned for four hours,
compared to two-and-a-half hours for wood charcoal. This seemed to be very
beneficial to poor households since they could use 1 kilogram of briquette to cook
supper and use the same to heat water for bathing the following morning.

Briquettes to large extent are worth venturing into the future since fuel prices are
expected to rise. Secondly as the effects of deforestation are expected to cause a
rise in prices of wood fuel and charcoal hence briquetting of biomass can have a
legitimate economic role to play without any need for subsidy.

Briquettes have gross calorific value of up to 4200Kcal/kg, about 2.2kg of

briquettes are equivalent to 1 litre of furnace fuel. According to FAO, briquettes are
good substitute for wood, because of their consistent quality which can enable a
price premium to be obtained over wood.

State of Energy Consumption in Kenya

According to the comprehensive study and analysis on energy consumption patterns
in Kenya which was undertaken by the Kenya Institute for Public Policy Research and
Analysis (KIPPRA) in 2010, Kenya faces an enormous task of meeting its energy
needs.

Wood fuels are the most consumed fuels in many households in Kenya mainly for
cooking while, petroleum and electricity are the most dominating fuels in the
commercial sector. According to the report, in Kenya whether in the urban or rural
areas the most popular fuel types in terms of their various uses are kerosene (80%),
followed by charcoal (60%), fuel wood (55%), electricity (37%) and LPG (21%). The

3
use of fuel wood, charcoal and kerosene in rural is higher compared to urban areas.
At household level about 70% of the consumers use biomass while 30% use other
fuels. Biomass provides 70% of the energy requirements in Kenya hence being the
energy that is widely used for cooking. Fuel wood has the highest energy budget
share on average for both rural (11.6%) and urban (9.34%) compared to other fuels.
Most households in rural and informal settlement within urban areas use fuel wood as
their source of energy inform of firewood or charcoal.

Fuel Briquette Making Machines

Briquette making machines are simple press machines that use the principal of press
to compact solid biomass materials. They can be either manual or motorized.

Over the years, there has been an evolution in the design of the briquette making
machines from wooden ones to metallic ones .These machines are still being
improved and developed to date to meet the day to day changing needs of the
society. Below are examples of briquette making machines found at the Giraffe
Centre.

Metalic briquette machine

Wooden briquette machine AFEW Kenya Prototype

4
Photo by Mary Njenga

Photo by Mary Njenga

Metalic briquette machine Pressing using a plastic container

Fuel Briquette making materials and Binders

Briquettes are normally classified into two categories; Carbonized (where volatile
matter is driven off resulting in char which is used as feed stock with a binder) and
Uncarbonised (Raw waste materials), since they have different properties
particularly regarding heat and smoke given off. Carbonised briquettes give off less
smoke and have more heating value hence more suited to domestic applications.

The locally available and suitable materials include biomass from coconut husks,
wheat straws, rice husks, coffee husks, and bagasses. Main binders include starch,
clay, papers, cow dung and gum arabica. The ratio of the binders to other biomass
used varies depending on its ability to stick together, for instance 1:7 for paper, 1:18
gum arabica and 1:4 for soil are ideal in binding charcoal dust (Njenga et al.,
unpublished data) Best indoor briquettes are made from charcoal dust or maize cobs
mixed with gum arabica resin, paper or clay. Outdoor briquettes are made of saw
dust or cow dung mixed with binder.

Fuel briquettes are made by compressing either of the above mentioned biomass
materials and other tree and agricultural by-products into a uniform solid product. This
is achieved using various techniques with or without the addition of binder depending
on the plasticity of the biomass materials (Rousseta et al., 2011).

5
The materials used are usually locally avilable and they differ depending on the
region. For instance charcoal is the most commonly used material in urban areas due
to high use of charcoal while agricultural residues are commonly used in rural areas
depending on the type of crop grown (Njenga et al., 2013). The combination of
different materials and binders contributes to a difference in combustion properties
such as calorific value and ash content and emissions. For example, while paper
enhances calorific value soil has a negative effect due its no-combutible
characteristics. However soil has good results in reducing emissions from burning fuel
briquettes and extending the burning period (Njenga et al., 2012). Most fuel
briquette production activities in Kenya are located in low income urban and peri-
urban areas, with 50 per cent taking place in Nairobi.

How to Make Fuel Briquettes

There are several critical steps in making briquettes, these are:

Step 1:
Preparation of biomass waste materials and binders
Collect dry leaves, grass and paper.

Step 2:
Crushing and soaking of materials.
Crush the biomass material. Place crushed
material in a drum of water to soak for 1 week.
Using your hands or a shredder, cut the waste
papers into small pieces and soak for about 2-3
hours as soaking for a long time causes bad
smell.
NB: Other materials like charcoal dust and saw dust should be mixed when pressing the
briquettes

6
Step 3:
Pounding process

Photo by Mary Njenga

Remove soaked material from the drum and place in a
mortar and pestle (Kinu). Pound for some time. Ground
the charcoal dust and sieve, old nets can be used, this
enhances homogeneity of particles and help to park
more carbon in the fuel briquettes resulting in to high
heating value

Step 4:
Testing the readiness of the material
for compaction.
Take a handful of the pounded material and
squeeze in your fist. When you open your
hand, if the material is pounded enough, it
will remain compressed and the impressions
left by your fingers will be easy to see. If it has not been pounded enough it will
swell up and the impressions left by your fingers will not be visible or squeeze the
mixed slurry in one hand and then hold between two fingers and if it falls apart,
more binder is added until it holds together.

Step 5:
Compaction of paste into fuel briquettes
• Scoop a handful of the mixture and put in the
cylinder of the briquette making machine.
• Put a divider and put a subsequent amount of
Photo by Mary Njenga

the material in the cylinder then put another

divider
• Press mixture in the cylinder until all the water
drains through the holes of the cylinder
• Take out the briquettes from the cylinder and remove from the dividers.

7
 Step 6:

Photo by Mary Njenga

Drying
Expose the finished fuel briquettes under
minimum sun to dry. This process can take
2-5 days to completely dry depending on
the weather condition. If possible solar
drying equipment can be used for fast
drying. Fuel briquettes should be dried Drying on roadside
well to about 10% moisture content. Drying under cover is recommended as
drying them under direct sunlight makes then to break. Fuel briquettes should
be shielded from direct rain

Step 7:
Packaging, storage and use
Once the briquettes are dry, they can be packed in
either strong paper bags and stored or sold to
consumers.

Quality Control
Two main quality requirements for briquette products are based on their physical
characteristics for handling and combustion properties. To ensure good quality the
following should be observed:-

• Fuel briquettes should have the correct mixing ratio of the biomass materials and
binders. This will ensure that they remain solid until they have served their function.
• Fuel briquettes should be of good density so that they do not disintegrate during
the handling, storage and transportation. Friability of the fuel briquettes can be
tested by dropping them at one meter height after they should hold together.
• Fuel briquettes should have good combustion properties such as high calorific

8
 value, low ash content , low volatile matter and low emission characteristics. The
calorific value (heating value) is influenced by the type of raw material and
binder used and the mixing ratio between the two. For example, good heating
value has been measured in fuel briquettes made from charcoal dust with a 13
per cent concentration of paper (1:7 ratio of paper to charcoal dust) or 5% gum
Arabica (1:18 ratio of gum arabica to charcoal dust) and 20% soil (1:4 ratio of
soil to charcoal dust) . The calorific value also depends on the type of wood used
in producing charcoal. The end result of the quality of the briquette improve with
increase in experience of the group members and the feedback from customers.
(Njenga et al., unpublished and Njenga et al., 2012)
• Fuel briquettes should be prepared using raw materials that are dry.
NB: Carbonizing organic materials before using them in making briquettes improves combustion
and emission characteristics

USES AND BENEFITS OF FUEL BRIQUETTES

How to light a briquette

Once completely dry, fuel briquettes are ready for use. First you need to make a fire
using small sticks or paper the same way you light charcoal. Once the small fire is
burning, place the dry briquettes on top and they will soon catch fire. As the briquettes
are consumed, you can add more by placing them on top of the others. When the fire
goes out you may throw the ashes on your garden for soil improvement.

Uses of briquette

Briquettes can be used for various purposes due to the high calorific value:

• Cooking and heating water in households

• Heating productive processes such as tobacco curing, fruits, tea drying and
poultry rearing
• Firing ceramics and clay wares such as improved cook stoves, pottery and bricks
• Lighting of fire places and in camp sites
• Fuel for gas fires to generate electricity

9
Benefits of using fuel briquettes;

Direct Benefits
• They help families in saving money since they are made using locally available
materials as compared to buying charcoal whose cost keep is on the increase.
The money saved is used on food, health, education among other things.
• Less fuel is used as they burn for a long time.
• They help to generate income; they can be sold to the nearby community at a
profit hence this will improve the livelihood of the people.
• They save time that is otherwise wasted by women travelling long distances to
collect firewood. The time saved is used in productive work such as agriculture or
provision of casual labour hence earning income.
• Learning how to make briquettes help one become a resource person; once you
have learnt how to make your own fuel, you will be in a position to teach other
people to do the same at a fee.
• Fuel briquettes creates employment for the vulnerable groups to include; the
youth and single- mothers hence reducing crime in cities.

Indirect Benefits
• They reduce pollution and creates a new waste management strategy for
communities and municipal councils
• They save trees hence managing water catchment areas, mitigate against
climate change through carbon sequestration and reduce indoor air pollution.

10
Relevant case studies of briquette use

Enchore Youth Group

A self Help Group situated at Kware slums of Ongata Rongai in Kajiado
County. This project was started in 2010 after the members went through
training at the Giraffe Centre. The group comprises of 16 members the aim of
creating awareness on waste management, youth capacity building and
earning a sustainable living through making fuel briquettes. Enchore Youth
Group, engages 30 local women to make the fuel briquettes using 11 fuel
briquette making machines and every week they supply one Canter full of
briquettes. Their market target is the tourism industry with main consumers of
the fuel briquettes being Camp Sites in Maasai Mara Game Reserve e.g.
Governors Camp.

Reuben Community School

11
Kayole Environmental Management Association(KEMA)

GVEP International

GVEP (Global Village Energy Partnership) reduces poverty by increasing

access to affordable modern energy services in developing countries where
state or large utilities’ interventions are slow to reach.

12
Conclusion
The renewable energy technology is the way forward to Kenya energy security but
the energy productions from these sources have been limited. It therefore important to
come up with strategies and investment plans to secure sustainable supply of energy
to meet the growing demand. There is need to encourage users to shift to alternative
sources of energy . There is need to provide incentives to encourage innovations
towards increasing adoption of the cheap but efficient alternatives of fuel wood in
both rural and urban areas. Since fuel wood is the main source fuel in rural and poor
urban areas which host high human population majority of who depend on biomass
energy.

There is need to encourage and enhance energy saving and efficiency methods for
better environmental conservation and sustainability by encouraging and enforcing
the adoption of energy saving cookers outside the tradition cookers. This should be
done in the medium term to protect the environment. Briquette production and use in
areas which dominantly use fuel wood and will definitely help to protect the
environment from degradation.

13
References
1. AFEW Giraffe News Issue No. 14-2012

2. Fuel from Waste Network - http://fuelfromwaste.wordpress.com

3. KIPPRA (2010) A Comprehensive study and Analysis on Energy Consumption

Patterns in Kenya, KIPPRA (July 2010) A Synopsis of the Draft Final Report

4. Njenga. M., Yonemitsu, A., Karanja, N., Iiyama, M., Kithinji, J., Dubbeling M.,
Sundberg, C and Jamnadass, R. (2013). Implications of charcoal briquette
produced by local communities on livelihoods and environment in Nairobi,
Kenya. International Journal of Renewable Energy Development (IJRED). Vol 2
(1) ISSN 2252 4940

5. Njenga M, Jamnadass, R., Karanja, N., Kithinji, K. and Iiyama. M. Let us Make
Fuel Briquettes. The Materials Community Groups Use and the Heating Quality
of the Product. Miti. The Tree Business Magazine for Africa. Issue No.13 January-
March 2012, 26-27. www.betterglobeforestry.com/miti-magazine

6. www.Fao.org/doc.rep/TO275E/TO275EOO.htm

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 This Handbook will direct you on how to make your own cooking fuel out
of locally available materials. It also contains valuable information that you
need to a become a pioneer in search of sustainable industrial and
domestic source of fuel.

AFEW (K) Ltd - Giraffe Centre

P. O. Box 15124 - 00509 Nairobi, Kenya

Tel: +254 20 8070804 / 0723 786165 / 0734 890952
Email: info@giraffecenter.org | education@giraffecenter.org

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