How do you manufacture solid alcohol cooking fuel?

Question

In fiji many people use kerosene to cook which is becomming more and more exspensive to import but they grow tonnes of sugar every year
I need to find out how to manufacture solid alcohol fuel which you can in cans
I would like to know if it burns as hot as kerosene because it won't sell if it takes longer to cook with.
Also could we use alcohol mixed with other chemicals to use in there original kero lamps and cookers

Answer 1

Solid fuels which are manufactured using stearic acid ( partly saponified ) with alcohols. But these solid fuels are not economical though they have very good calorific value. Only tekers / mountaineers can afford these.

Answer 2

Solid Alcohol Fuel

Answer 3

The typical method is to use gel. This is how Sterno brand cooking fuel is made. This is not a solution to your problem, however, because this fuel does not burn as hot as kerosene.

If ethanol is readily available and very much cheaper than kerosene, I would suggest mixing the two. This fuel mixture could probably be used in existing equipment with very little modification. The air/fuel ration would probably need some adjustment.

Start with a 25% and a 50% ethanol/kerrosene mixture to test cooking quality. This should tell you what you need.

Answer 4

The most common solid fuel is hexamine, which is produced on an idustrial scale by reacting formaldehyde with ammonia; but this process is not suitable on a domestic scale. The fuel burns clean and hotter than kerosene, it is safe; but is very much more expensive.