Valorization of ecological coal as energy source for smoking fish in the locality of Maga, Far North Region of Cameroon

Wood for smoking fish is increasingly rare in the locality of Maga where this activity is practiced intensely. The search for firewood to prepare meals and smoke fish has led to immense deforestation in the area. There is an urgent need to find alternative sources of this fuel. The objective of this work is to construct a fish smoking kiln operating with ecological coal made from rice husk. To achieve this, we have characterized the existing traditional and improved kiln by evaluating the evolution of temperature during smoking and the amount of fuel consumed per kilogram of smoked fish. Then the design of the cupboard kiln and its construction were made taking into account the type of fuel to be used. Its performance was evaluated. It appears from this work that the consumption of wood per unit of smoked fish varies with the type of the kiln. On average and in the locality of Maga, it takes 2.5 kg and 0.36 kg of wood to smoke 1 kg of catfish respectively with drum kiln and double-chamber brick kiln. When using ecological coal, 0.68 kg is sufficient to smoke 1 kg of fish. For the temperature fluctuation, it has been observed that it is most of the time of smoking above 100 °C on drum kiln while the temperature hardly reaches 100 °C with the rest of kiln. In addition, temperature is more stable in cupboard kiln fluctuating around 70 °C. These temperature intervals are quite sufficient for smoking fish. Knowing the potential production of biochar from rice husk in the locality of Maga, around 13,433tons of fish can be smoked just by valuing this type of agricultural residues. The surface area annually protected from deforestation is then estimated to 665 hectares.