Approaching the End of the Quarter

This past week, our team has been focusing on the development of a few major design iterations for exploration over the summer in Malaysia.  The three main designs under consideration include a cone design, a "Tin Man" design, and a "Jolly Roger" Design.  The team researched these designs over the course of the past week and have been compiling thorough documentation on the various designs.  The Tin Man iteration was discussed very thoroughly.  This design uses an external fuel source to virtually "bake" the biochar.  Off gas is used to further th pyrolysis until complete.  It takes gas from the bottom and can be considered as a batch system.  This is similar to the Jolly Roger, which is another batch system.  However, this system takes gas off the top and uses the feedstock as a source of fuel.  In contrast, the Cone Design is not a batch system, and requires constant maintenance and monitoring to refill with feedstock and remove processed biochar.  This would allow the user to burn as much feedstock as necessary in one trial, but would require more maintenance during operation.  The team will be working this week to continue to develop fleshed out plans for these designs including a comprehensive materials list, budget and risk register for each moving forward.  Over the summer, Latifah hopes to build and implement these designs with a farmer in Malaysia! More updates to come :)