How to make Peterson Briquette press

Peterson Briquette press is used to make briquettes from biomass very easily. Compared to the old manually driven design, Peterson press is a much better and efficient way of making briquettes. First, the press uses piston, enabling a much higher compression ( burns longer) at lower effort (assisted by hydraulic force). Second, the compact structure further helps in saving material of construction and space.

Remember actual and optimal dimensions depend on the number of briquettes to be produced and the final quality required. Start with these values for and keep on experimenting to arrive at best designs.

Materials Required

1. Two L=120cm by 10x5cm(WxT) lumber

2. Two 20x5cm lumber cut in rectangle

3. One 11cm PVC pipe, 80 gauge (thick one) 30cm long

4. One 2-2(1/2 )inch steel pipe 30cm long

5. Four 5cm thick back up 15cm long

6. Two 40cm by 5cm thick support lumber

7. Three 11cm circular metal plates

8. One 15cmx15cm lumber

9. Piston press -hydraulic or manual medium

10 30cm long PVC pipe with diameter 5cm

How to make one ?

Wooden frame assembly as shown in the figure

Briquette paste holder

It has 110, 2cm holes on the surface each 5cm apart center to center. First find a millimeter drawing paper and cut 11cm by 30 long to cover the whole surface. Make marks for the centers of holes. The intersection of horizontal and vertical lines 5 cm apart in each side is where the center of the circles lie.

After making these lines on the paper glue them to the PVC to make the drilling easy. These holes remove the water from biomass waste during compression.

The PVC must be thick to avoid break during high pressure compression.

Steel pipe

This is used to make burning chambers on the briquette surface. These are circular holes that facilitate air flow and better combustion. The dimensions are identical but the pattern of hole making is different as shown in the figure below.

Circular plates

These are used to separate briquettes in the paste holder above. To make three or more briquettes at a time, use these plates. They are made as shown in the figure,

Holding plate

Make the structure shown below from lumber specified on 8. The inner circle has dimensions of the PVC pipe and the hole in it has dimensions of steel pipe. The holes on the outer circle is used to remove water.

Final assembly

The press looks like this! Good luck