Design of a biomass pyrolytic stove

The project “CHAR:ME: Biochar and biomass-derived products from waste as sustainable and safe domestic fuel” (Polisocial Award 2022) targets the design and implementation of a prototype technology for the recovery and transformation chain of local (Nosy Be, Madagascar) organic waste into solid fuels. The underlying idea is to replace current harmful practices (illegal deforestation, coal production in open air wooden piles, unoptimized cooking stoves) currently causing > 16000 deaths/year (in Madagascar only). CHAR:ME foresees the production of biomass briquettes by mechanical treatments and bio-drying and the design of an efficient and low-emission stove to produce heat and biochar (coal briquettes) for further heating or soil amendment uses. This thesis project supports the development of the biomass stove by developing a network of ideal reactors to explore the influence of operating conditions (feedstock composition, size of briquettes, stove geometry) on the formation of pollutants and on char product quality.