7 Quick Take Friday

I don't have the focus to write a complete blog posting on any one subject. So this is my opportunity to let everyone know what the Geeks have been up.

1. Soccer, Soccer, Soccer. Most of the games were rained out (field too soggy) in October so the weekends in November are packed. Also indoor soccer has started, oh my.


Here is the Middle Geek attempting a trick shot.



2. Lance - the Dog Geek. The little Geeks LOVE playing fetch and soccer with Lance. The do not mind feeding him and giving him water. The walking and cleaning up poop? Not so much.








3. Safety Training - I have been continuing my tour of Missouri in my quest to bring safety education to every county. Only 100 more to go.





4. I have spent too much time searching the web for the perfect obnoxious T-shirt for the College Geeks birthday present.

Please someone, put this on a coffee mug for me!





5. Expanding Your Horizons (EYH) This is an event for 7th and 8th grade girls to meet women with nontraditional careers (for women) and to be encouraged to stay in math and science. Every year my friends and I travel to our Alma mater and put on a workshop. Usually we bring the bridge kit and explain why engineers are the MOST important people in the world.

Unfortunately I missed it this year due to #3 reason. (sob)


6. Making Charcoal Briquettes from Peanut Shells - I am still involved with Engineers Without Borders. Several projects that we started in Haiti are ongoing.

We have successfully carbonized peanut shells. Look at that burning in the picture. We were able to FILL the chimney with shells and with one match the entire contents caught fire.

While that may not sound amazing at first, you have to know that peanut shells pack pretty densely and it is difficult to get enough air for the fire to burn without being smothered. We modified a Weber Chimney Charcoal Starter (Somebody from Weber Grill contact me, we love your design.) Next step is to build a larger model.
















7. I was so lucky to be able to fit in one more mission trip this year. Hugs to Mr. Geek who picks up the slack at the home front while I am away.

This mission trip was close to home (just one county over). The constant October rain drove us inside where we completely made over the Sanctuary of a small church. The average age of the members is over seventy and the church had not been painted since probably the 70's.

When we were done it looked like a beautiful country chapel that would be perfect for a wedding. We hope we were also able to bring some hope and joy to those worshiping there.

There will be fire!

(Did you enjoy the Pi song? I scheduled it before I left because I was not sure if I would be able to update my blog.)

We were able to make some charcoal briquettes today! Do you know what is French for Briquette --- Briquette! Yea, I learned another French word.

We had to enlarge the nail holes that I had made to get some air into the can. We found that you have to start with a small amount of peanut shell and then slowly add shells until you get a really hot fire. Even then you cannot add the shells too fast or the fire will be smothered. Our third batch is in now the kiln. We have made about four briquettes. We want to burn them tomorrow to see how cleanly they burn. Unfortunately I smell like burned peanuts (with a hint of DEET). Ewww.


The Solar collector on the Dryer was finished this morning and we were able to get some temperature and humidity readings when it was placed in the sun. It got up to 120 F and 10% Relative Humidity, compared to outdoor temps of 80 F and 60 RH. I hope we get the doors on the cabinet so we can get more data tomorrow. Several of the shelves are finished.

Well just a quick update, I must make Charcoal while the sun shines.

How to make Charcoal Briquettes

Seriously this post is how to make charcoal briquettes, and no charcoal briquettes is not euphemism for anything else. (At least I don't think so, wink wink, you know what I mean.)

In Haiti, there is an excess of peanut shells. There is also a shortage of fuel for cooking. Therefore several people have been working to be able to turn peanut shells into clean burning charcoal for cooking. After a bit of research with my good friend google, I found recipes and video describing the process.

I also found this amazing (and horrific) statistic.

More children die from poor indoor air caused from smoky fires than from malnutrition.

Can you believe that?

Before I go to Haiti and help train people, I wanted to be sure I understood how it was done. So Mr. Geek and I made charcoal this weekend. Oh yes we did!! I know you wish you were us.

So go ahead and ask: AbFab, how do you make charcoal briquettes from peanut shells? We have to know!!

Sit down kids! I will explain all!

First you need some peanut shells.

Mr. Geek and I decided we should have lunch at one of those restaurants that serve buckets of peanuts. Then we could take home our peanut shells (and those of the surrounding tables) as well as have a nice lunch out. Oh the will the sacrifices we make ever end?

But (gasp) the restaurant was closed!

So we ate at Chevy's, I had a quesedilla and a Sante Fe Salad, thanks for asking. It was very nice and oh where was I? The peanuts! Oh the peanuts. No success!

So I went to the grocery store and bought two bags of peanuts. However now I did not have tables of people to help me crack the peanuts out of the shell. So I took the peanuts with me to band practice. After practice, I made the group circle around and shell both bags of peanuts. Thanks everyone! You are the best!

Then we gathered our high tech equipment. In Haiti we will use 50 gallon drums, so for the Geek trial we will use empty cans. Mr. Geek used a nail to make several hole in the can to allow for air flow.

We put the peanut shells in the can and lit them on fire. (Okay can I be honest here, I mean we are all friends right? The first try was not successful. We tried chopping up the shells first before burning. The chopped peanut shells were too closely packed to catch on fire, even though we used ten to twenty matches... in the cold wind...brrr) The trick was to use whole peanut shells and they burned much more easily.

The peanuts burn until they are very hot and the smoke begins to die down. At this point, air is restricted. Our high tech equipment was a spaghetti sauce can and dirt.

It worked great.

After the peanut shells carbonize and the cans cooled, we gathered the resulting carbon fines and crunched them into small uniform pieces using our hands and a plastic ziplock bag. (The Geek household is all about high tech.)

Now to make the final briquette. A binder was made with tapioca flour and water. (The Geek household happens to have these supplies in the pantry.) When the mixture is cooked it makes a delightfully slimey gooey substance. I mixed the goo with the carbon and voila it formed a beautiful briquette! I dried it in the food dehydrator.

All that is left is the burning to see how successful we were!