Alternative Fuel Kiln Burner Video Ron Rivera, Potters for Peace
Greetings from Potters for Peace, Nicaragua .
I understand that your organization deals more with cook stoves, but third world potters and brick makers also use allot of firewood..
For the past several years we have been experimenting with the use of this type of machine ( that costs about two hundred dollars to make ) to motivate local potters and brick makers to use. In the case of the women potters or Ducaule Grande, Condega , Nicaragua they use 60% less firewood when firing their preheated kiln (with firewood to 250 degrees Celsius ) then fire with coffee husks (rice husks, saw dust and other agricultural waste) which is locally acquired till they get to about 800 degrees celsius. In the past we have been able to fire to 1280 degrees Celsius in a kiln made of refractory bricks. .
Our principle problem is that we must find a low cost way of separating the fuel intake and the air intake so it can be gradual and not, all out fire as demonstrated in the video. As you can see by the short video (we can send you a longer one if interested) the coffee husks are consumed so fast it almost looks like the women are firing with propane.
The technology is not new because many large scale calcium processing plants, large brick producers in Brazil and many coffee processing plants use this process already. What we are trying to do is to make it very low cost so that more and more potters and small brick makers can use them.
If interested please write back.
Peace
Ron Rivera International Coordinator Ceramic Water Filter Program Potters For Peace www.pottersforpeace.org Managua, Nicaragua tel: 505 277 3807 pottersforpeace@yahoo.com

How to Build a Kiln (5MB pdf)
Manny Hernandez, Potters for Peace
Presentations to ETHOS Conferences, 2006 and 2007
How to Build a Kiln

ETHOS Conference Proceedings, Jan 26-28. 2007
Kirkland, Washington

Session 1: Emerging Technologies & Fuels