Animal feces that has been dried in order to be used as a fuel source From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Dry dung fuel (or dry manure fuel) is animal feces that has been dried in order to be used as a fuel source. It is used in many countries. Using dry manure as a fuel source is an example of reuse of excreta. A disadvantage of using this kind of fuel is increased air pollution.[1]
Stirling-Motor powered with cow dung in the Technical Collection Hochhut in Frankfurt on Main
Dry dung and moist dung
Dry dung is more commonly used than moist dung, because it burns more easily. Dry manure is typically defined as having a moisture content less than 30 percent.[2]
"Dung cakes", made from the by-products of animal husbandry, are traditionally used as fuel in India for cooking food in a domestic hearth called a Chulha. They are made by hand by village women and are traditionally made from cow or buffalo dung. One dung cake of an average size gives 2100 kJ worth of energy. Dung cakes are also known as goitha, uple, kande, gosse or thepdi.
These are the cakes of cow dung molded by bare hands with a curvature to be able to keep stuck to the walls. Once dried they are put in a pile and covered with thatch called bitauda. These bitaudas are visible in parts of rural India albeit with different names. The size and shape of the cake might vary with region. Its also not uncommon to see these cakes directly used in earthen ovens.
This biofuel has been used primarily for two reasons: for easy disposal of cow dung and as easily available and cheap fuel.
Potential for cost savings compared to other fuels
May alleviate local pressure on wood resources
Availability - short walking time required to collect dung fuel
No cash outlays necessary for purchase
Drying cow dung fuel
Africa
Egyptian women making "Gella" dry animal dung fuel
In Egypt dry animal dung (from cows & buffaloes) is mixed with straw or crop residues to make dry fuel called "Gella" or "Jilla" dung cakes in modern times and ""khoroshtof"" in medieval times.[5] Ancient Egyptians used the dry animal dung as a source of fuel.[6] Dung cakes and building crop residues were the source of 76.4% of gross energy consumed in Egypt's rural areas during the 1980s.[7] Temperatures of dung-fueled fires in an experiment on Egyptian village-made dung cake fuel produced:
...a maximum of 640°C in 12 minutes, falling to 240°C after 25 minutes and 100°C after 46 minutes. These temperatures were obtained without refueling and without bellows etc.[8]
Also, camel dung is used as fuel in Egypt.
Lisu is the cakes of dry cow dung fuel in Lesotho (see photo)
Huts in a village near Maseru, Lesotho. The fuel being used on the fire is dried cattle dung
India, dry buffalo dung is used as fuel and it is sometimes a sacred practice to use cow dung fuel in some areas in India. Cow dung is known as "Gomaya" or "Komaya" in India. Dry animal dung cakes are called upla in Hindi.[9]Dungcakes at Village Bhraj, Sangrur District, Punjab
Iraq, this kind of biofuel is named locally Muttal, and it is made in the shape of a disc made from cow or buffalo dung, with a diameter of 20–30cm and a thickness of 2–5cm. It is famous in its manufacture by the indigenous people of the marshes of Iraq in particular, and the residents of southern and Middle Euphrates of Iraq in general. It is used in the bakery of rice bread, and in grilling fish to form the favorite food of the people of the marshes, which is Tabag bread and grilled fish, and also is used to burn and emit smoke for a day or more to protect humans, animals and plants from harmful insects. It is stored in the form of heaps, called Gubbah, and is usually mixed with hay in storage, and used in times when there is little fuel.[11]
Kazakhs dry animal dung is known as "Кизяк" (romanized: kizyak) which is made by collecting dried animal dung on the steppe, wetting it in water then mixing it with straw then making it in discs which were then dried in the sun. It was used as a source of fuel for the winter and, throughout the summer.[12]
Kyrgyz Republic, dung is used in specially designed home stoves, which vent to the outside
Mongolia, dry cow dung and sheep dung cakes are commonly used as fuel.
Pakistan, dried cow/buffalo dung is used as fuel.[8]
U.S. soldiers patrolling outside a qalat covered in caked and dried cow dung in an Afghani villageCow dung fuel was burnt on the Gauchar's Historical Field, India to gauge the direction of air currentsMaking Komaya (cow dung fuel in India)
Europe
Dung cakes being prepared for fuel on the Ile de Brehat, Brittany, France, c. 1900.
France in Maison du Marais poitevin in Coulon there is a demonstration of traditional usage of dry dung fuel.
The Americas
Early European settlers on the Great Plains of the United States used dried buffalo manure as a fuel, calling it "buffalo chips."
In Peru, the Yavari steam ship was fueled by llama dung fuel for several decades.
Dry dung can be used in the production of celluloid for film.
Dry animal dung was used from prehistoric times,[14] including in Ancient Persia,[10] Ancient Egypt and early modern England.[15] In Equatorial Guinea archaeological evidence has been found of the practice[16] and biblical records indicate animal and human dung were used as fuel.[17]
The burning of cow dung cake releases a range of organic and inorganic gases in both gas and particle phasesThe burning of cow dung cake releases organic air pollutants over a wide range of volatilities into both gas and particle phases.
Picornell Gelabert, Llorenç; Asouti, Eleni; Martí, Ethel Allué (2011). "The ethnoarchaeology of firewood management in the Fang villages of Equatorial Guinea, central Africa: Implications for the interpretation of wood fuel remains from archaeological sites". Journal of Anthropological Archaeology. 30 (3): 375–384. doi:10.1016/j.jaa.2011.05.002. ISSN0278-4165.
The Bible Ezekiel 4:12 And you shall eat it as barley cakes, and you shall bake it with dung that comes out of man. http://bibleapps.com/ezekiel/4-12.htm