Project Overview
I spent 10 weeks in Mzuzu, Malawi continuing the Stanford Biochar Project - a collaboration between Stanford University’s ESW chapter and a Malawian nonprofit named The Wildlife and Environmental Society of Malawi (WESM). It aims to address agricultural waste buildup, poor water quality, and deforestation in Northern Malawi through the production and use of biochar. Biochar is a form of charcoal produced from organic materials like agricultural wastes. It is the black, brittle substance leftover after burning organic material until only its carbon and ash contents are left.
I worked at Mzuzu University under the guidance of Mr. Twalibu Tandwe – a lecturer in their Biological Sciences department and the Chairperson of WESM’s Mzuzu branch.
Our work broke completely complete new ground for the University. Prior to our arrival, our supervisor had not heard of any initiatives in the region to create charcoal from farming wastes, devise smokeless cooking methods, or use biochar as a water filter.
Furthermore, Mzuzu University lacks an engineering department. I had to bring my own tools and repurpose a biology lab into a makerspace. Our prototypes simply could not have been built without us going there. Our data also provided previously non-existent insight into the two villages' perspectives towards this project, the villages' water quality, and biochar's filtration effectiveness under field conditions.
What Did I Do?
I successfully prototyped and tested two products.
1) A kiln that produces biochar from maize cobs. Drawing upon existing designs for Top-Lit Updraft Gasifier (TLUD) stoves, I successfully built a kiln that produces charcoal without generating smoke and allows a user to cook with exhaust heat from the process.
2) A water filtration system that uses gravel, sand, and biochar to remove contaminants from river water. The system was heavily based off the research of Dr. Josh Kearns and his nonprofit, Aqueous Solutions. We analyzed in the lab how the filter affected the levels of coliforms, nitrates, turbidity, and other metrics in water.
Both prototypes were made entirely from local materials found in Mzuzu, Malawi. Thus, I had to create original designs.
In addition to building and testing our prototypes, I also visited two Northern Malawian villages. There, we demonstrated the kiln I built, received villagers’ feedback on the device, introduced the concept of a biochar-based water filter, administered a user questionnaire, and sampled their water sources to measure the current state of contamination.
My time in Malawi culminated with writing a 60-page report, which documented our prototype designs, instructions on how to build them, research we did, results from our testing, and user survey responses. I also gave a Powerpoint presentation and in-person stove demonstration to Mzuzu University faculty and community members in the area.
