Untitled - Engineers Without Borders USA

Acknowledgements 

The Legacy Foundation would like to thank the following 

persons and organizations for their important contributions 

to the lessons learned in the development and 

extension of briquette technology. 

Dr. Ben Bryant, Professor Emeritus, (retired) University 

of Washington Forest Products Laboratories, Seattle 

Washington who developed the first briquette press and 

continues to be a guide in the technology development. 

Malawi: Harry Chuma, Principal Secretary Ministry of 

Energy and Mines, Lilongwe Malawi; Wisdom Mulango 

Nkhomano Center for Development; Sue Clasby, Peace 

Corps Volunteer with the AIDS Orphans project Balaka; 

the women’s groups of Mchinji and Mangochi districts 

especially the senior trainers Stanford Noa and Frederick 

Banda; Anna Erdelmann and Esther Chirwa of the Urban 

Poverty Alleviation Project/GTZ; Sean Southey of UNDP; 

Marijke Mooij of a private Dutch consortia and Godfrey 

Sabiti, UNHCR. 

Kenya: Christopher, Elizabeth and Nicholas Wood, 

project designers, program managers and equipment 

suppliers; Mary and Francis Kavita, lead trainers; Charles 

Njiroge, Francis Oloo and the women of the Kangemi 

Women’s Empowerment Center; Stephen Gitonga, 

ITDG Kenya. 

Peru: Carlos Olivera, Pablo Arujo, Nestor Valesco Castilla, 

Bill Davis and John Wilcox of ADRA; Mario Carrion of 

Canel 9; the women’s groups in Mosocllacta, Q’quea and 

Chiaquilccasa communidades en la departamente del 

Cusco, Juan Ponce de Leon and Txema Torrebada; the 

faculty of the National University of San Antonia Abad del 

Cusco and Juan Ponce de Leon and Txema for translation 

assistance. 

Mali: Enterprise Works Worldwide staff; Youshaou Traore, 

translator; Adame Ba extension trainer; Abdullaye Dem 

technician and Affa Sammassekou, thresher device designer 

and manufacturer. 

THE LEGACY FOUNDATION 2003 — Fuel Briquettes: A Users Manual 

Haiti: Dr. Keith Flannagan of World Concern; Richard 

Ireland, Peace Corps Volunteer and extension trainer. 

Zimbabwe: Claudio Dembezeka of the Mukuvisi 

Woodlands Center Education; Emmanual Koro of the 

Africa Resources Trust (ART); Gus Le Breton, Southern 

Africa for Indigenous Resource Use (SAFIRE); Steve Murray 

of Action Magazine; Ramson Choto of the Ministry of 

Energy and Mines and the ZIMTRUST organisation. 

Mexico: Nancy and Robert Hall; Juan Pablo Tapia Cruz 

of DESMUNI; Porfirio and Xavier briquette technology 

technicians 

Uganda: Uganda Industrial Research Institute; Dr. Mike 

Foster and Charles Sembatya of Sasakawa Global 2000. 

Ashland Oregon: Dr. Owen McDougal - Southern 

Oregon University Chemistry professor and principal 

investigator on briquette technology applications. 

Other supporters of the briquette technology 

development include: 

Steve Troy of Sustainable Village; Claire and Jack Fincher/ 

practitioners; Mike Stanley/ Media Development; Kirsten 

Paul/ Web site development; Jeff Stanley/ sound and 

video graphics; Peter Stanley/ extension training; USAID; 

The Jane Marcher Foundation; UNDP; USAID; ADRA; Plan 

International; GTZ and UNHCR; Special thanks to Michael 

Lee (idesigncom.com) for his graphics design expertise 

and patience in the production of this series of briquette 

manuals.

FUEL BRIQUETTES MAKING: 

A USERS MANUAL 

© 2003, The Legacy Foundation 

THE LEGACY FOUNDATION 2003 — Fuel Briquettes: A Users Manual

Table of Contents 

INTRODUCTION 

The Art of Making Fuel Briquettes 2 

The Process of Making Fuel Briquettes 4 

Step 1. Organizing the Fuel Briquette Making Equipment 4 

The Fuel Briquette Press Kit 4 

Step 2. Material Collection 5 

Step 3. Material Processing: The Most Important Part 6 

Drying and Chopping the Materials 6 

Decomposing the Materials 8 

Creating Fuel Briquette Recipes 9 

Mixing/Blending the Materials after Decomposition. 

Testing the readiness of the decomposed/pounded 

9 

material for pressing 10 

Step 4. Pressing the Briquettes 12 

The Pressing Process in Detail 13 

Step 5. Drying and Storage 16 

Sample Basic Recipes 17 

Generic Recipe One: Scrap Paper Based Recipes 17 

Generic Recipe Two: Agro Residue Based Content 17 

Basic Burning Techniques and Fuel Briquette Usage 18 

Fuel Briquette Production by a Group 19 

Work organization for a group of six fuel briquette makers 19 

Conclusion 20 


INTRODUCTION 

Fuel Briquettes - made from everyday agricultural and commercial 

residues such as weeds, leaves, sawdust, rice husks, carton board and 

scrap paper – are a unique, yet well proven technology. 

In many parts of the world, people are making this new and modern 

fuel and saving time, saving energy, saving our environment and creating 

income. Fuel briquettes are unique because they provide a fuelwood 

alternative from resources that are right under your feet or in 

your wastebasket! Fuel briquettes can be made relatively quickly at a 

low cost to the manufacturer or consumer and can be adapted and 

applied in a wide variety of settings, making the resource appropriate, 

sustainable and renewable. 

The Legacy Foundation and its partners have tested the fuel briquettemaking 

process over ten years in a wide variety of environments and 

conditions – in urban and suburban and rural areas in Malawi, Haiti, 

Kenya, Zimbabwe, Nicaragua, Peru, Mali and the United States. The 

producers who have participated in fuel briquette training have 

become expert in the process and able to adapt their own conditions, 

materials and environment to the fuel briquette production process. 

This manual provides all that is required to make a fuel briquette press 

kit. Other manuals in our series include Fuel Briquette Press Kit: A 

Construction Manual - a step by step guide in making fuel briquettes, 

Fuel Briquettes: A Trainers Manual a guide to expand fuel briquette making 

into a community project and Fuel Briquettes: Theory and 

Applications From Around the World which includes a recipe book for 

the experienced fuel briquette maker to expand the variety and types 

of fuel briquettes made and their applications. 


The Art of Making Fuel 

Briquettes 

What are fuel briquettes? Fuel briquettes are a low 

cost, locally made fuel for cooking or heating that 

offer an alternative to the use of firewood. Fuel briquettes 

are made from grass leaves, straw or other 

agricultural waste products. The basic process that 

will be described in detail in this manual involves 

collecting the dry materials, pounding or grinding 

them to a certain consistency, mixing the materials 

with water, allowing the ‘mash’ to sit for a period of 

time, pressing the mash into a fuel briquette using a 

specially designed press, allowing the briquettes to 

dry and finally burning the fuel briquettes exactly as 

one would burn firewood. 

Varieties of Fuel Briquettes Around the World 

2 THE LEGACY FOUNDATION 2003 — Fuel Briquettes: A Users Manual 

Over the years of experience in fuel briquette making 

on Legacy Foundation sponsored projects, there 

have evolved about 100 different fuel briquette 

‘recipes’. Each offers a slightly different texture, 

aroma and benefit according to the need and 

application 

The variety of fuel briquette materials is as diverse as 

the communities where fuel briquettes can be 

made. Some producers use eucalyptus leaves (blue 

gum) to drive out mosquitoes with minimal smoke. 

Others use cedar needles to provide a nice aroma in 

their hearth while others make cedar fuel briquettes 

just to store in the closet to preserve clothes during 

the rainy season. Still others make fuel briquettes 

out of paper to provide an extended use for junk 

mail and other waste paper. Neem leaves offer the 

benefits of the Neem tree while the use of Water

Hyacinth controls this aquatic scourge weed. 

Addition of rice husks will lower the cost of the fuel 

briquette for short intensive burning applications. 

Charcoal fines and sawdust on the other hand greatly 

extend the heat intensity and duration for cooking 

meat. Mango leaves work better than guava and 

coconut better than banana fronds, and so on, as 

the experiences from the field in dozens of nations 

emerge. All types of fuel briquettes provide an 

income generating option for the local population. 

The heat values differ according to which type or 

types of materials are used. The coarse remains of 

maize milling, blended with aquatic weeds, such as 

the water hyacinth, provide a long slow burn of up 

to 1 to 1.5 hours for preparing beans. Sawdust and 

wastepaper blends work well for roasting or cooking 

meat with their hotter, but shorter burning time. 

One can as well use charcoal fines with more fibrous 

residues for high temperature cooking while cleaning 

up the environment. 

This manual will get you started on the process of 

fuel briquette making by providing the basic concepts 

of fuel briquette making, using the most readily 

available and easiest to use materials. We start 

with recipes that include waste paper or ‘Junk Mail’ 

and ordinary grass, straw and leaves. In providing 

the basics, we hope to inspire you to experiment 

with your own available materials until the best 

material combinations are found to fit your own 

needs and requirements. Once you have acquired 

the basic skills through use of this Fuel Briquette 

Making; A Users Manual, a companion manual Fuel 

Briquettes: Theory and Applications from Around the 

World, provides extensive detail on a wide variety of 

actual blends in use and their applications. This 

advanced manual is available through the Legacy 

Foundation. The following provides the basics steps 

of fuel briquette making. 

There Are Five Steps In Making Fuel 

Briquettes: 

1. Organizing the Fuel Briquette Making 

Equipment 

2. Collecting the Materials 

3. Processing the Materials 

4. Pressing the Fuel Briquettes 

5. Drying and Storing the Fuel Briquettes 


3

The Process of Making Fuel Briquettes 

Step 1. Organizing the Fuel Briquette 

Making Equipment 

Before we look at the fuel briquette making process, it is necessary to 

get all of the equipment together. This section describes all of the 

equipment required before the fuel briquette making can begin. 

The Fuel Briquette Press Kit 

A Fuel Briquette Press Kit consists of the following: 

■ A wooden hand press 

■ Two mold sets 

■ A plastic tarpaulin or black PVC sheet film of 5 meters by 2 meters in 

size, for drying and composting. Heavy-duty plastic sheet is preferred as 

shown below, right. 

■ 4 large metal pails or plastic buckets, as used for washing clothes, or 

kids. Two are shown below. 

■ Two - three large mortar and pestles, used in pounding maize; optional 

for higher production is a hand thresher or motor powered maize or 

hammer mill with a modified screen. 

■ Water: 200 - 250 liters is consumed gradually, throughout a full day's 

production effort. However to initiate production, another 200 liters 

should be available. Remember that this will be recycled throughout 

the day. 

Complete instructions on the construction of the Fuel Briquette Press 

Kit are provided in Legacy Foundation’s companion guide: 

Fuel Briquette Press Kit: A 

Construction Manual. 


Wooden Hand Press 

Mold Sets — 2 each 

(from top left) center GS guide pipe, wood 

piston with cap plate at bottom end, divider 

washer and wood base plate with its centering 

ring and (bottom) white perforated PCV 

cylinder. 

Plastic Tarpaulin

Step 2. Material Collection 

A wide range of materials can be used for fuel briquette 

making. The types of raw materials used in 

fuel briquette making include: ground nut shells, 

rice husks, tree leaves (mango, eucalyptus, guava, 

cashew, blue gum, capale, sandrela, etc. etc.), grass, 

straw, maize covers, water algae and plants (including 

water hyacinth), banana leaves, flower petals, 

paper and on and on to any number of materials 

which might be available to the creative fuel briquette 

maker. In all cases it is important to remember 

that using natural residues, only dried brown 

leaves or grasses and the more dried straws are 

used. “Fresher” / greener material contains soil 

minerals which do not work in fuel briquette making 

because they do not burn well and cause smoke. 

Other ‘pre-processed materials’ like charcoal fines, 

sawdust, wood chips and waste paper can also be 

added. Paper readily breaks down and can serve as a 

starter fuel briquette material in that it binds other 

materials without the normal required processing 

time and effort of chopping and partial decomposition. 

If only agro residues are used, from 4 to 8 hectares 

of active farmland will usually be required for a fulltime 

press operation, reaching a market of up to 

500 persons per day. The amount of dry agro 

residues required however can decrease by as 

much as 40% when these other pre-processed 

materials are included in the mixture. 

Each fuel briquette maker will quickly find a unique 

recipe with its own burning characteristics from a 

given area for his/her own cooking needs. Let us 

know the recipes you discover so that others may 

continue to benefit from your experience! 

Overall, the list of materials is almost as long as the 

types of agricultural residue available to the fuel 

briquette makers. The only limit to the variety of fuel 

briquette making materials is thus far based on the 

limit of one’s imagination and skill in looking at their 

own environment. While thermal properties of the 

individual ingredients can provide a guide in some 

cases, they are, as yet, of little use in predicting heat 

efficiency and duration of the blended fuel briquette. 

These values depend far more on the skill in processing 

the material and ones choice of blends and the 

management of the production process itself. The 

most skilled producers are usually those with extensive 

practical knowledge of their own environment. 

The most important step to ensure efficient highquality 

production of fuel briquettes is the continuous 

supply and processing of selected agro-residue 

materials. 

Using the basic labor intensive technology described 

in this manual, 125 to 150 kgs. (dry weight) of 

processed material will be required by one fuel briquette-manufacturing 

group using one press kit, per 

each working day. The balance between agricultural 

residues and those already processed such as sawdust, 

charcoal fines, rice husks etc., determines the 

amount of each required but the total weight per 

day consumed will still be the same. 

Grass / straw 

Maize leaves 

mill waste 

Misc. leaves 

Paper & cardboard 

Sawdust 

Resource collection for a community production group in Mchinji 

Malawi, Central Africa. 

Some recommended ways to supply the fuel briquette 

production with materials include: 

■ Community participation, where all members of 

the village supply bags of raw materials and are 

compensated with a proportional amount of fuel 

briquettes in return. 

■ Participation by school children who bring a 

small bundle of raw materials to school each 

morning and produce their family’s weekly fuel 

supply after school. 

■ Individuals contracted to provide bags of raw 

materials to a production site and in return receive 

an appropriate compensation for their work. 


5

6 

This service can also be provided by local 

posho/Maize/flour millers at the equivalent of 

their normal operating charges per minute or 

hour. (Unless they are using their mill for animal 

feed, they will tend to do the resource milling for 

fuel briquettes only at the end of the day so they 

can clean the mill for the next morning’s flour 

production). 

Every community will develop its own optimum 

collection approach. No matter how the materials 

are collected, it is important to note that they are 

going to accumulate into an unsightly and possibly 

unsanitary mess, unless provision is made for their 

processing. 

Step 3. Material Processing: The 

Most Important Part 

Introduction 

Fuel briquette making theory is based on the 

tendency of natural fibers to interlock when 

combined with other by-products of agro processing. 

The objective is to create a material that will act 

like VELCRO without the introduction of any 

glue, resin or other artificial binders. 

The processing of fuel briquette making materials is 

the key step in fuel briquette work. It involves chopping, 

wetting and ‘resting’ of the materials until the 

materials are ready to be pressed. The principle on 

which the fuel briquettes are bound together is 

basically a mechanical process in which naturally 

occurring residues are first chopped, then softened 

through partial decomposition. They are then 

blended with other agro residues or pre-processed 

residues such as sawdust, charcoal fines, and or rice 

husks, in a simple water slurry. This blending 

process causes the fibers to be randomly redistributed 

throughout the mass, and to entangle and 

interlock into a solid mass as the mass is compressed 

and dewatered. There is no chemical binder 

used in this fuel briquette making process. 


Though this manual will provide the fuel briquette maker 

with the basic steps in the process, it must be emphasized 

that the fuel briquette making process requires practice, 

practice, practice and testing, testing, testing until the fuel 

briquette maker gets the ‘feel’ for the materials and the 

best fuel briquette making composition and combination. 

The manual can describe the process, the fuel briquette 

maker will fully understand the process only through production. 

As one becomes more experienced in the fuel briquette 

making process s/he will learn that applying time and 

water to decay agro residues at a controlled rate is 

more of an acquired art than a textbook learned skill. 

Drying and Chopping the Materials 

The process of material preparation (drying and chopping) 

may involve hand pounding or, manually driven 

threshing/chopping technologies, or machines process- 

ing depending on the economics and resources of the 

site. Whether a hand or mechanized process is used to 

prepare the materials, it has to pass the “squeeze” test 

noted below: 

The first step in preparing materials is to dry them and 

chop them. Several methods can be used for this 

process: 

1. The basic method is using a mortar and pestle. The 

dried agricultural residues are added in small batches to 

the mortar and pestle (see above) and pounded until 

they are the size of ‘corn flakes’ or the size of an 

adult’s ‘thumbnail’.

With the hand process, one would use a combination 

of pounding in a mortar and pestle followed by 

partial decomposition and blending again in the 

same mortar and pestle. The mortar and pestle provides 

the best texture for fuel briquette material; 

however, it is an extremely labor intensive process. 

A production group can find itself using up to 70% 

its production labor using a mortar and pestle. For 

this reason we recommend the use of a mortar and 

pestle only for training and entry level production 

or in situations where there is little capital for equipment 

investment and a relative abundance of 

unskilled and unemployed labor. 

2. Another method would be to use a variety of 

hand operated threshing or field-chopping technologies 

that break up the materials into the optimum 

size/shape far faster than hand pounding. 

These are commonly available in agriculture 

research institutes and development projects. With 

the manually operated thresher chopper equipment, 

the processing can be greatly accelerated 

because material size and shape is altered to greatly 

accelerate decomposition and or softening. Legacy 

Foundation has developed a specialized hand 

Legacy Foundation's hand- operated thresher, masher chopper: Uganda 

thresher for this purpose. It can provide chopped 

residues sufficient for two press groups per day 

under most conditions. Information on how to 

order this hand thresher can be found on the 

Legacy Foundation web site: www.legacyfound.org 

3. In the district centers and the more urban areas 

of developing nations, mechanized technologies 

may be a wiser choice for chopping. The mechanized 

process involves a chipper, lawn shredder or a 

lawnmower with a mulcher attachment, or a common 

hammer mill commonly known as a Maize/ 

Posho/Chigayo/Molino. The chipper or shredder or 

hammer mill needs to be fitted with a screen/sieve 

of a 5/8” to 3/4” (15 to 20mm) diameter hole size. 

These machines can greatly assist the process of 

chopping the materials and free up much labor for 

production. A six to eght Hp (~4 to 6 Kw) hammer 

mill can process the residues needed for up to six 

press groups. 

5 Kilowatt Hammer-mill: 

Mosocllacta, Cusco, Peru 

5 Kilowatt Hammer-mill: 

Bamaco, Mali 


7

Decomposing the Materials 

Decomposing most agricultural residue material follows 

the usual agricultural composting process, 

except that earth is not added. In preparing agro 

residue material for fuel briquette making we are 

only interested in separating or weakening the bond 

between the pithy material and the fibers. We do 

not want to let the decomposition proceed to the 

point of breaking down all material and creating 

topsoil. 

Depending upon how much time would be 

required for their decomposition, 6 to 14 rows of 

materials wrapped in plastic as seen below, each up 

to 50cm height x 1 meter width x 5 meters in 

length, can be present at the a fully operational fuel 

briquette production site at any one time. 

Left: Plastic tarp folded over chopped residues 

Each such pile would be in progressively further stages 

of decomposition, such that each day a new pile is 

added and one is removed for use in production. 

Note: 

The use of pre processed residues such as sawdust, 

charcoal fines or rice husks can reduce the 

above suggested agro-residue processing volume 

by 40% as these pre-processed wastes are 

simply blended into the agro-residues when the 

latter are ready. 

8 THE LEGACY FOUNDATION 2003 —fuel briquettes —A Users Manual 

As with composting, natural material decomposes 

quickly when you keep it covered, moist and out of 

the wind. Some material will require only a few 

days; others will require several weeks depending 

upon the local climate and the material used. The 

materials should be left to decompose until they 

become soggy and warm to the touch. The pestle 

or a rake may be used for further breaking up and 

mixing the materials to assure uniformity in the 

stage of decomposition. Eventually this pile of 

residue begins to heat up through its own internal 

“decay” process. 

Note: 

The fibers should not be left to decompose or 

burn up beyond this point. If left too long, they 

will begin to break down like compost, generating 

basically, a rich humus, which does not, to 

our experience, burn very well. 

If discarded oil drums or discarded water tanks are 

available, they can be used to provide a continuous 

feed composter. Bolt or weld the tanks together to 

form an open vertical stack 1.2 to 2 meters height 

and elevate them above the ground. Make a removable 

opening at the bottom through which you can 

rake out the “ripe” material (a sliding gate is the 

best), while fresh material is added to the top. The 

rate of feeding and removal depends highly upon 

local climate and material conditions. 

The time required for decomposition depends upon 

the season and the material type. Generally allow 

two weeks in a hot/dry season and up to six weeks 

in a cold season, with times for decomposition during 

the rainy seasons falling somewhere in between. 

Where you cannot yet use such materials immediately, 

they can be raked out into an open flat pile with 

no cover to stop or at least dramatically slow down 

further decomposition. Once interrupted and left in 

dry, open, aerobic conditions, the prepared material 

can be stored until it is needed. Leaving it in dark 

humid conditions however, will further soften and 

destroy fiber strength resulting in a useless fuel bri-

quette making material. It will in other words fail the 

"ooze" test (see the section below). 

Mixing/Blending The Materials 

After Decomposition. 

Once the materials have been suitably decomposed 

they are ready for blending. They are diluted in 

water and mixed into a coarse paste or sludge consistency 

so that they can be easily added to the 

mold. This mixing also ensures that the fibers are 

randomly distributed throughout the mass around 

them. 

Several methods can be used to ensure that this 

sludgy mass of agricultural compost is actually ready 

for molding — either on its own or as a base material 

for other more granular materials (sawdust, rice 

husks, charcoal fines etc.). 

The average farmer we have trained picks up the 

idea in less than two days. It is often a more daunting 

task for those who are perhaps more "educated", 

have lost their sense of a feel for the natural environment. 

Mixing & blending resources during training in Cusco, Peru. 

Note: 

The choice of which process to apply is far less 

difficult if you understand the theory, namely 

that the material has to break down sufficiently, 

to expose fibers and pith, so that they will interlock 

when saturated with water and then compressed 

and de-watered. 

Creating Fuel Briquette Recipes 

With the individual composted materials processed 

and ready, it remains to determine the right proportions 

of adding other materials like charcoal fines, 

paper, rice husks, etc., each for the desired heating 

effect. Fuel briquettes can be made to provide a hot 

and quick burn (with rice husks, sawdust and waste 

paper) or a long and slow burn (using coarse maize 

flour from the maize mill, water hyacinth and other 

very well decomposed vegetation). 

The mixtures can be used for industrial applications 

and brick making (using Tobacco bale paper and 

assorted leaves), to general cooking (using leaves 

field grasses/straws and waste paper), to other specialized 

applications: For example, fuel briquettes 

made with up to 25% cedar wood chips provide a 

very pleasant aroma for space heating. Fuel briquettes 

made with up to 75% eucalyptus leaves 

have been reported to be effective in repelling some 

insects, including mosquitoes. This is accomplished 

without the acrid smoke one experiences in burning 

a pile of leaves but, rather, through preheating and 

emission of their natural aroma before actual combustion 

in the fireplace. 

The degree to which these fibrous and pithy materials 

can be mixed will vary according to the quality, 

maturity and specific type of each material. The 

Legacy Foundation’s, Fuel Briquettes: Theory and 

Applications from Around the World, describes some 

of the variations that have been developed through 

various fuel briquette making projects. Each area and 

each season produces an almost infinite variety of 

resources for fuel briquette making and each new 


9

variation has its own ideal proportions. What we 

repeatedly have discovered is that the village 

trainees exhibit a detailed knowledge not only of 

their own local resources but how to utilize them in 

fuel briquette making. Every fuel briquette maker 

should be encouraged to develop their own recipes 

from the materials that are available to them. The 

key always is to ensure that the material mixture 

passes the test of readiness for pressing. 

Testing the readiness of the 

decomposed/pounded material 

for pressing 

These simple tests require one’s own hand, nothing 

more. There are numerous quantitative analogues 

for describing the characteristics these tests, such as 

porosity, permeability, plasticity/elasticity, shear and 

tensile strength, and someone will surely get a very 

useful master’s degree from a full analysis of the 

hydraulic and engineering characteristics of the 

material. For now however, our interests are more 

toward reaching large numbers of the globe’s citizens 

whose strengths lie more in their keen perception 

of their own natural resources and local historical 

knowledge, than in verbal representation per se. 

We therefore communicate the characteristics of the 

material through development of a certain “feel” of 

it through three simple field tests, as they provide 

the most replicable, practical and easily conveyed 

measurement tool for material assessment amongst 

the majority of the producers and users of these fuel 

briquettes. 

All three tests involve scooping a representative 

handful of well-mixed material out of a slurry of the 

proposed mixtures and squeezing it by making a 

tight fist. 

■ The "ooze" test: if the material oozes through 

your fingers on squeezing your fist, it is too 

”ripe”. The fibers are either insufficient in number 

or those which are present have been 

destroyed by too much decomposition. Add 

more fibers and test again. Oozing is equivalent 

to over cooking the material: indeed it means 

that you are well on the way to making topsoil: 

however topsoil does not usually burn very well. 


■ The "spring back" test: if you notice that on 

opening your fist after squeezing, the material 

expands by more than say 10% of its original 

diameter or length, then the material requires 

further decomposition or pounding, or re-mixing 

with better material. Generally however, it is better 

to prepare the material correctly in the first 

place, rather than trying to cover up the mistake 

by adding more material. The material must 

retain imprint of closed fist, as above, neither 

oozing through the fingers nor feeling “spongy” 

to the touch. 

Spring back test material must retain imprint of closed fist neither 

oozing through the fingers nor feeling “spongy” to the touch. 

■ The "shake" test: a good fuel briquette material 

will not fall apart when held over the upper 1/2 

portion and shaken vertically a few times as one 

would move a salt shaker. Samples that fall apart 

during such shaking will require more fibrous 

material (chopped grasses/straws, stems, fibrous 

leaves, choir fiber etc. 

Shake test for blended agro- residues, prior to their use in briquetting

The process is like “home” cooking with pinches of 

ingredients here and there until you get the right 

consistency for a fuel briquette that will not be 

spongy nor fall apart. You will quickly discover that 

the mixtures vary according to not only the type of 

materials used but the maturity or readiness of these 

materials to dis-aggregate and re-bond in a water 

slurry. 

NOTE: While the above tests apply to agro residues, 

other agro-processed materials such as charcoal 

fines, sawdust and rice husks act primarily as fillers. if 

too much filler is added, the mixture will not conform 

to the above guidelines at all and the fuel briquette 

will not ‘hold together. For example, rarely 

can one add more than 50% sawdust, by volume, to 

waste paper and still have the mixture pass the three 

tests above. The practical maximum proportion of 

sawdust to agro-residues (by dry weight) for example, 

should be about 35%. 

Users Notes: 


11

Step 4. Pressing the Briquettes 

The heart of the operation is pressing the prepared 

materials into burnable fuel briquettes. 

Hand Press Kit in Uganda, with molds, basin, sawdust and misc. 

leaves fuel briquettes. 

Each batch of material prepared for fuel briquette 

production will most likely be different due to the 

normal variability of the material and natural variations 

in the stage of decomposition. We have provided 

several existing recipes in the latter section of 

this manual to get you started, but you will quickly 

discover that it much depends upon local conditions 

in your particular area--and upon your own skill as 

the "cook". Therefore, if possible, it is helpful if the 

user obtains initial advice from experienced fuel briquette 

makers. 

Once the selection of mixtures is determined and 

the material has been prepared, the actual production 

of fuel briquettes is a simple labor-intensive 

process. 

The fuel briquette press shown above is rugged, 

reliable and in use in a wide variety of cultures and 

climatic conditions. 

This model of the hand press is designed for use in 

a production team of four to eight persons. A team 

of six persons, which plans and manages a steady 

supply of processed materials, will be able to produce 

750-1000 fuel briquettes per 8 hr. day (includ- 


ing the materials processing). This is sufficient to 

meet the fuelwood demands of 75 to 90 families 

per day. Without good management and advance 

planning for materials, the process can slow to a 

frustrating one third of this output with the same 

labor input! Enough cannot be said about the need 

for advance planning of materials. 

Theoretically, one could simply use their hands to 

make fuel briquettes. The problem is that for some 

materials, there is need for higher pressure than the 

hands can exert. As well, in all fuel briquettes there 

needs to be some uniformity of size and appearance 

for marketing purposes: one's hands rarely provide 

such a uniform shape. 

Another reason for using the press to make fuel briquettes, 

rather than ones hands, is that we desire a 

uniform hole in the center to optimize the drying 

and the burning effect. Fuel briquettes made without 

a center hole take twice as long to dry. A solid 

cake will actually offer less effective heat than the 

hollow shape because the center hole functions like 

a combined chimney and insulated combusiton 

chamber. The chimney creates a cleaner and more 

efficient burn and makes ignition far more rapid. 

Center hole generates considerable heat in most cooking and heating 

conditions. This blend from Mali uses field straw, rice husks and 

waste carton board. It is burning in a simple three stone fireplace.

The Pressing Process in Detail 

The layout of the press and the briquette process is as follows: 

A training group in Chaquilccasa, Cusco Department, Peru 

side view (press elongated for illustrative purposes) 


13

1. The first step in fuel briquette making is to mix 

the materials: The materials are mixed in a container 

or 1/3 of oil drum (~ 75 liters volume) and 

then saturated with water to the consistency of a 

soup or thick porridge. 

2. Set the cylinder atop the base plate of the mold, 

set the center pipe into the cylinder seating it in 

the center guide hold of the base plate. The 

"slop" mix is then scooped and poured into the 

cylinder as shown in Peru (below). Depending on 

the kind of material and the desired size of the 

fuel briquette, two to three scoopfuls of material 

are added to fill the mold 2/3rds to 3/4ths full. If 

desired a divider washer can be slid down over 

the center pipe at this point and a similar portion 

of material is then again poured into the 

mold. 

3. Once the mold set is filled to the top, the piston 

is inserted over the center pipe and pressed 

down by hand to rid the mold of excess water 

and loose air cavities as shown in Peru (above 

top). Depending upon the material being used 

and the size desired in the resulting fuel briquettes, 

the piston may need to be removed and 


more material added. In either event, the piston 

should rest not less than 1” (2.5 cm) inside the 

cylinder before actual pressing. The resulting 

assembly is called a charged mold and is ready 

for pressing. 

4. Lift the handle of the press to its maximum 

height. Place the charged mold set - the filled 

plastic pipe, the base plate, the center guide 

pipe and the piston as one unit, on the bottom 

beam with piston aligned vertically beneath the 

top beam. Slide the assembled mold set back as 

far as it can go toward the rear legs (opposite 

end to the handle-end legs) while just touching 

the top beam. Making sure that the piston and 

cylinder remain in vertical alignment and that 

they remain on center between the top and bottom 

beams. The handle is then lowered in one 

continuous motion, until it can go no further 

(below): the operator should not have to jump 

on it, nor should it require more than one person 

to operate. Steady downward pressure has 

the effect of forcing remaining “free” water out

of the mold while allowing the randomly aligned 

fibers to interlock, forming a strong tight mass 

when the material dries out. 

Once the handle is all the way down, lift it again 

to its maximum extent and shift the mold set, 

again, as far to the rear as possible. Repeat the 

steady downward motion of the handle until it 

can go no further. 

Depending upon the type of material and size of 

the charge, you may need to repeat this step a 

third time to compress the cake as much as possible 

as shown in the pictures (below) from Peru. 

5. Ejecting the fuel briquette 

Lift the handle all the way to the top as shown 

below in Mali. 

Remove the base plate from plastic pipe and 

piston and shift the latter assembly over rest the 

cylinder on the Ejection Lip located inside the 

front legs of the press as shown above. The ejection 

lip is a small piece of angle iron or ribbed 

metal strip located halfway up the front legs. 

Press the handle downward gently as shown 

(above) in Peru. As the piston now travels further 

downward, unimpeded by the base plate,the 

fuel briquettes are forced out the base of the 

cylinder. You should have your hands ready to 

catch them to avoid damaging them as they fall 

out. 


15

6. The center pipe is removed from the emerged 

fuel briquette(s) and PRESTO, you have your first 

fuel briquette(s) as shown below in Peru and 

Mali. 

7. The mold assembly is then re-assembled and 

filled with material, for another cycle. 

Step 5. Drying and Storage 

The fuel briquette should be carefully moved aside 

to dry with minimum handling, where it can be 

assured of an even air flow, protected from rain, but 

in open windy areas as much as possible. 


Fuel briquettes are best dried when they are positioned 

to let air flow evenly across their whole surface. 

Where you are faced with only a flat unventilated 

surface, set the fuel briquettes down on their 

rounded side, not on their flat ends. 

Fuel briquettes generally take three to six days to dry 

in direct sunlight and up to eight days in cloudy 

conditions. Note that if the starchy material, left 

over from maize milling, or other impervious material 

is used in the mixture, drying can require up to 

twice this amount of time again. 

While drying in the sun is ideal, fuel briquettes can 

be dried under a well-ventilated roof out of the sun, 

as long as the above guidelines are adhered to. 

One can use an elevated bed of small thin reeds or 

sticks, corrugated metal sheeting (a corrugated 

metal roof top works very well) wire mesh, or other 

material to support the fuel briquettes as long as it 

promotes airflow all round the fuel briquette in an 

even fashion. 

In some areas, briquettes make wonderful food for 

ants, termites, etc. In this case it is necessary to use 

some form of barrier to protect the briquettes. 

The same black plastic sheeting used during materials 

preparation works well. In colder climates, some 

are using basic solar dryers made of wood poles and 

UV-sensitized, clear plastic sheeting to dry the 

briquettes.

Sample Basic Recipes 

There are two generic recipes or blends for fuel 

briquette making. 

‘Paper based’ blends provide one alternative and 

“Agro residue based’ blends provide another. The 

theory of binding is the same and almost any combination 

of the two is possible, but the process of 

preparing the material is a bit different. 

Described below are the two distinct methods. 

These recipes assume use of only basic equipment. 

The use of hand operated or mechanized equipment 

will greatly reduce the labor involved but the principles 

for good fuel briquette making remain the 

same. 

Generic Recipe One: 

Scrap Paper Based Recipes 

This recipe may or may not include agro residues 

1. Soak bucket of scrap paper in an ordinary pail of 

water for two days or so, until the paper can be 

readily torn into pieces about 1” in diameter. 

2. Collect four pails of dried grass/straws/leaves. 

If necessary, lay them out to dry in the sun until 

they become crispy. The required time can very 

widely depending on the temperature and 

humidity at the location. 

3. Pound the soaked paper adding water as necessary 

until the fibers are soft and the mass sticks 

together like crude paper mache or bread dough. 

4. Pound the dry leaves in the mortar where upon 

they should break up readily into something the 

size of ‘corn flakes’. Some break up more easily 

when wet, others when dry. 

5. Mix the broken leaves by the handful with the 

paper in a bucket or pail. Add water as necessary 

to give the mixture the consistency of a “slop” 

for want of a better word. This may require up to 

80% of the total volume being water. By volume 

you would want about 25% to 40% paper and 

from 75% down to 60% leaves. 

6. Follow the instructions in Step 4 (above): Pressing 

a Fuel briquette. 

The use of Scrap Paper makes the process relatively 

easy because you do not have to rely on decomposition 

of the agro residues to do the binding. That is 

accomplished by the paper which breaks apart easily 

and rapidly. You will however be restricted to the 

location where scrap paper is readily available. You 

will also be limited as to the kind of cooking or 

heating aroma you can produce. 

Generic Recipe Two: 

Agro Residue Based Content 

including miscellaneous leaves grasses 

and straws, stems fronds, etc. without 

any paper 

1. First pound the dry brown and somewhat brittle 

leaves grasses, straws, etc., into cornflake 

/thumbnail-sized pieces in the mortar and pestle. 

2. Soak the pounded leaves grasses and straws etc., 

then spread them out under dark plastic tarpaulin 

or heavy plastic sheeting which is placed in 

the sunlight. Once the residues are added, fold 

over the sheet to make long rows, which are 

protected from the sun and wind. Add water 

every few days as necessary to keep the mass 

humid (but not soaked) to speed up decomposition. 

Mixing the grasses with leaves, particularly 

more resistant leaves, is reported by some to also 

accelerate decomposition. 

3. Keep a daily eye on the mixture to note when it 

begins to soften and heat up. This can require 

from one week to four weeks or more, depending 

on material type and climate. As with the 

decomposition process, this may not occur uniformly 

throughout the mass. It might be necessary 

to turn the row over to accomplish uniform 

decomposition. Do this by opening up the plastic 

sheet and lifting it in a jerking motion all 

along one side. Repeat with the same motion on 

the other side and re-cover. 

Some prefer to make the batches in smaller 

amounts, using plastic sacks, homemade or purchased, 

discarded water tanks or simply open 

pits for containing the material. The same principles 

for decomposing and testing the mass apply 

for any configuration selected 


17

4. When the mass becomes sludgy and warm, it is 

time to stop the decomposition process by 

opening the plastic and exposing the mass to 

the wind and sunlight. If it shows signs of actually 

burning it is time to stop decomposition 

immediately because the fibers which are needed 

for binding the material together are being 

disintegrated. Drying the mass out in open sunlight 

with plenty of airflow, will preserve it for 

later use, or if you prefer, you can use it directly. 

5. The art of good agro residue-based fuel briquette 

making is largely determined by the art of 

material processing. Knowing when to interrupt 

decomposition is the key part of material processing. 

When you are ready to actually press 

the fuel briquette you proceed with step 4 

above, paying special attention to the ‘squeeze’ 

and ‘ooze’ and ‘spring back’ tests. 

6. While the use of only agro residues is more challenging, 

it is far more rewarding in terms to the 

increased varieties of aromas and cooking and 

heating applications open to fuel briquette user. 

It will also enable you to apply the skills in 

almost any environment, quite independent of 

the more urban environments upon which the 

paper based recipes depend. 

Whether paper based of agro-residue based fuel 

briquettes are made, the addition of pre-processed 

commercial residues can reduce by up to one-half 

the total volume of agro residue and/or paper material 

required. Such wastes as sawdust wood chips, 

rice husks, coffee hulls, coir dust or charcoal fines 

are added to either of the above preparations with 

the caution that once mixed into either of the 

above bases, the blend should still pass the squeeze 

test. Generally one cannot add more than 50% of 

these materials, (often not more than 40% of these 

“commercially processed” granular materials), without 

causing the blend to become too spongy and 

fall apart in the testing process 


Basic Burning Techniques and 

Fuel Briquette Usage 

There are three burning techniques to 

remember 

Air Flow 

Good airflow is critical to a good burn with these 

fuel briquettes. It is particularly important to allow 

good air access to the bottom of the fuel briquette. 

Failure to do so will result in a smoky burn. 

Ash Removal 

Fuel briquettes produce ash and while this is handy 

for fertilizer or soap making, it can clog the airflow 

unless removed during each burn. 

Position 

For any one type of fuel briquette, you will get a 

longer and more efficient flame if you keep the fuel 

briquette upright, letting it burn primarily through 

the center hole. This is due to the chimney effect of 

the hole, which raised the combustion temperature 

and makes the burn far more efficient. If you desire 

only quick and widely diffused heat, then break the 

fuel briquette into three or four pieces by stomping 

on its round side with your foot. For any given type 

of fuel briquette, this will ensure a faster start up but 

with a quicker burn. Even with this method, try to 

ensure that the pieces are raised slightly off the 

ground to let air underneath. 

Cooking 

Fuel briquettes can be burned using a three stone 

open fire, a wood stove, a small metal cooking 

stove, a barbecue/brai or in any other stove normally 

used for wood or charcoal cooking. 

Other Potential Uses 

With the right recipe fuel briquettes can be used as a 

mosquito repellant, a room freshener, a cloth fumigant 

or a source of fuel for brick burning! 

The Legacy Foundation Fuel Briquettes: Theory and 

Applications from Around the World provides detailed 

recipes and fuel briquette usage options.

Fuel Briquette Production 

by a Group 

The press lends itself to operation with six to eight 

persons community income producing group. A 

group, with optimum material availability and in full 

operation can produce 750 to 1000 fuel briquettes 

in one day. 

Work organization for a group of 

six fuel briquette makers 

For a community project and the production of 750- 

1000 fuel briquettes a day, six workers are required 

for full utilization of one press (the number should 

not be less than 4 nor larger than 8). 

■ One person is the handle operator. 

■ Two persons are the mold chargers and actual 

fuel briquette molders (these persons work on 

opposite sides of the press, such that when one is 

filling their mold, the other is compressing and 

ejecting the fuel briquette from theirs). In this 

way, the press is kept in constant motion. 

■ Two persons are pounders and mixers of 

materials and, 

■ One person who gathers material and hauls completed 

fuel briquettes away to the drying site. 

The work is rotated amongst the team, mainly to 

relieve the pounders and mixers who have the 

most demanding task. 

The Legacy Foundation Fuel Briquettes: A Trainers 

Manual, provides a detailed plan for establishing and 

maintaining a fully operational briquette-making 

business. 

Users Notes: 


19


Conclusion 

The Fuel briquettes you make have great potential 

to be used for fuel that will save our environment 

and provide many with employment. 

While no social taboos against fuel briquette making 

exist to our experience, it is nonetheless a new 

product and one that will challenge traditional fuel 

wood usage in any part of the world. Fuel briquettes 

therefore require strong initial promotion to 

gain wide public acceptance. They cannot be introduced 

casually. Fuel briquettes must be treated like 

a new product and become as popular as, for example, 

Coca-Cola. The broad public acceptance is 

what attracts the entrepreneurs to produce a 

positive economic and social impact in your area. 

Legacy Foundation provides: 

■ Other training guides in the fuel briquette 

making process, 

■ Comprehensive training of trainer programs 

and services, 

■ Marketing support and 

■ Technical consulting and backstopping for those 

committed to fuel briquette making. 

For further information on training programs, or to 

order other manuals, please visit The Legacy 

Foundation's web site: www.legacyfound.org 

We are building a global fuel 

briquette making network and 

welcome your input and insights.

Technology, Management, 

Training and Media Services 

for Sustainable Development 

4886 Highway 66 Ashland, Oregon, 97520 USA 

Tel: 541 • 448-1559 

Fax: 541 • 488-6402 

E-mail: info@legacyfound.org 

Web Site: www.legacyfound.org

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