Kenya Defence Force researchers invent diesel powered field kitchen

Researchers with the Kenya Defence Forces have developed a diesel powered field kitchen for deployment with soldiers fighting the Al Shaabab militants inside Somalia.

Already, the first such kitchen, expected to minimize soldier exposure to sniper fire and explosives devices while fetching firewood, has already been deployed at Doble in Somalia.

According to Brigadier Josephat Kavisi, the chief of research and development at the Defence Forces Technical College, the military has already applied for a patent for the innovation.

The kitchen was on display yesterday at an exhibition of innovations mounted by the Public Service at the Kenyatta International Conference Centre.

The prototype, consisting three burners has the capacity to prepare meals for 300 soldiers for a week on 40 litres of diesel.

“This kitchen saves on cutting down firewood when our forces are in the field and also reduces their exposure to danger,” said Maj Nicholas Muhu one of its innovators.

The kitchen on display at KICC and a similar one inside the fighting arena in Somalia each weigh up to 0.3 tonnes and require a trailer for transportation.

“The feedback we are getting from our fighting personnel inside Somalia is for smaller units that can be loaded easily in the back of a Landrover or similar vehicle.”

To respond to this demand, the college has commissioned the Kenya Ordinance Factory Corporation at Eldoret to urgently produce fifty smaller units of two and one burners for shipping to the front line.

According to Brigadier Kavisi, most of the fighting units sometimes consist of few personnel making the bigger kitchen inappropriate.

“After we have perfected this innovation, we shall turn it over to the Eldoret factory for possible commercialisation as they may see fit,” said Maj Muhu.

The military men say they made the kitchen with the environment in their mind as it would eliminate the excessive use of firewood in operation and even training locations.

“Carbon emission from the diesel kitchen is much lower than that from firewood while producing more intense energy significantly cutting down on cooking times.”

For the military, the officers said, it is convenient to use diesel because it is readily available within the setup but the kitchen can use a variety of fuels including kerosene or biogas.

“As we continue to perfect the innovation it might also be able to use the much more environmental friendly fuels such as plant derived biodiesels,” says Major Muhu.

The idea, says the co-inventor, was conceptualised from the need to minimize exposure to danger of the fighting forces.