Fuels
The best stoves cannot work without good fuels. CREEC is carrying out research into fuels that can be promoted on the market and among stove manufacturers. Resources currently seen as waste can also be converted into briquettes, blocks of compressed material used as fuel. There are two types of briquettes: carbonized or uncarbonized. The latter is the raw biomass being compressed into the briquette shape.
Normally no binder materials are required since the lignin in the biomass becomes soft and sticky under pressure and the accompanying temperature increase and glues the material together. When the raw biomass has been treated, for example by gasification, the remaining charcoal can also be compressed into the required shape. However, this time a binder agency is required, since the carbonized material no longer contains a proper amount of it to hold the briquette together. Charcoal fines or dust, the waste product created during charcoal production or during transport and handling, is a form of carbonized material.
The waste materials turned into briquettes can be burned in normal cookstoves or may require a special stove design. CREEC has studied several types of briquettes and continues to implement further research programs in the production of briquettes and the briquettes themselves.