Operation:

Urban solid waste consisting of leaf litter, trimmings of trees and hedges, and paper waste can be charred in this kiln. The kiln consists of a steel barrel provided with a chimney. The barrel is filled with leaf litter. The leaves are ignited from the top and then the chimney is placed over the barrel. The leaves are allowed to burn for about 20 minutes, after which the chimney is lifted off and water is sprinkled on the burning leaves to extinguish the fire. Both the chimney and the barrel have been provided with handles for convenience of operation.

After extinguishing the fire, the barrel is upturned on the ground and more water is sprinkled on the char to extinguish it completely. The emptied barrel is filled again with fresh leaves to start the process all over again.

Each batch takes a load of about 6 kg leaves and it yields about 2 kg char per batch. In a day, one operator can complete 16 batches to obtain about 30 kg char.

The char is mixed with starch paste (made from waste cereal flour) and extruded into briquettes. If one person in the family operates the kiln and another operates the hand operator extruder type briquetting machine, the family can make daily about 35 kg briquettes.

The briquettes are dried in sun. The 30 kg char with the added weight of about 3 kg cereal flour, ultimately yields about 35 kg briquettes. The briquettes can be sold as domestic fuel for about Rs.10 per kg to give a daily income of Rs.350 to the family.

 Do's and Dont's:

-      The leaves should not be packed tightly into the barrel, but filled only loosely.

-     The barrel has holes at the bottom to let air into it. Therefore, the barrel should be placed on three bricks to avoid blockage of the air holes.

-       Use gunny cloth to hold the barrels of the chimney or the handles of the barrel to avoid burns.

-      Keep a water filled rose can handy to sprinkle water on the char and also to sprinkle water on any other objects that may inadvertently catch fire.

-          Char should be fed into the extruder with the help of a large ladle. Do not feed the extruder with hands because fingers may get crushed if they come in contact with the worm screw in the extruder.

Cost:

•  Single barrel kiln, with rose can: INR 3200 (ex warehouse, transport charges extra)

•  Hand operated briquetting machine: INR 3230 (ex warehouse, transport charges extra)

  For contact details to make enquiries and orders, do look into our brochure here.