At Prakti Design, testing is continuously performed as a way to gain knowledge on how to improve the design and the performance of our stoves. As we are working in many regions of the world (Africa and Asia), where environmental conditions are very different, we needed to find a way to replicate the local usage conditions of the stoves as closely as possible in order to perform reliable tests. These tests are essential to adapt the design of the stoves to the local needs of each country while also trying to find the most efficient solutions.
For the past year we have been working with the GTZ (an international cooperation enterprise for sustainable development) on different handicraft stoves projects in Africa (Benin, Mauritania, Uganda, Burkina Faso, etc…) and Asia (Tajikistan).
The wood that is used by the different local cooks varies greatly from one country to another. For example, one of the characteristics of Mauritania is that it has a very dry climate, which means very dry wood. Since wood available in India (where our stoves are tested) has much higher moisture content than wood in Mauritania, a way must be developed to dry the wood to lower moisture content in order to replicate the exact conditions our team will meet there during the project. /read more about our project in Mauritania for the GTZ/.
Therefore, to accomplish this and to perform the most reliable tests, it has been decided to construct and use a solar wood drying kiln. Over the past few weeks Mike, Dan, Mickael and Romain (the 4 Prakti Design’s engineer interns) have researched other solar dryers and developed a design of their own. The construction process has begun and the solar dryer should be completed around the 20th of July. Trials will begin running towards the end of July to evaluate the performance and see if any changes are needed to maximize the drying time.
Mike and Dan around the Solar Dryer
