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In a message to Mathew Owen, A.D. Karve mentions adding an
electric motor to a meat mincer. After developing a manual ram system for
briquetting carbonised sawdust and/or vendor's waste fines in late '97,
we set up shop with six mincers- all coupled to a varied assortment of
salvaged geared motors. At an output of 25 kg per hour max per mincer, this too
was soon insufficient to meet increasing demand.
Alex's 'Stoves' website picture:
shows our more recent scaled-up version of the
mincer/extruder. This is powered by a 7.5 hp. electric motor and can produce
between 75 and 100 kg of briquettes per hour. With five out of six of these in
operation, and running two shifts, we are now getting somewhere- but again,
machine output is the main bottleneck in our new Nairobi-based venture (Chardust
Ltd.).
We are currently working on a unit that will be powered by a
20 hp (approx 15 KW) motor and we hope to see outputs in the range of 400
kg/hour. THAT should get us on the map! When it comes to charcoal production-
particularly in Kenya- quantity is all important, as profit margins are slim. I
wish we had Karve's market price of $150.00 per ton.... at less than half
($70.00 in Nairobi), we are developing this business in a tough business
environment.
We are no longer interested in saving the tree by injecting a
substitute to lump-wood charcoal into the local market- we're now aiming to
save the forest.
It's good to hear that you are progressing along the same
lines Dr. Karve. Maybe we can be of assistance? I'm afraid we have no engineer's
drawings of the pictured extruder, but it's very simple & I'd be happy
to provide details if you wish to make one (or six). The cost us less than $2000
each to have locally made- inclusive of motor and switchgear.
Regards;
elk
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