Making Charcoal

[Michaelangelica]

Originally Posted by Essay

Michael, I saw this the other day on BBC News. There was a video of officials breaking up the kilns (like smashing stills, back during Prohibition).
They look to be about 7-8 feet tall.

BBC NEWS | Americas | Front line battle to save Amazon forest



...like igloos?

Interesting part of a BBC special
I will have to get broadband
BBC World Service - The Amazon Paradox

A short distance away, police cars stop at a site where row after row of open air ovens are being used to burn wood for charcoal.

Checks reveal that more than the permitted number of dome-shaped ovens has been built, so two are destroyed on the same day.

This operation on the ground in the Amazon has been continuing for two months, and police chief, Sergio Rovani, who is responsible for tackling environmental crimes in Para, insists it is getting results.

According to the official statistics, Arc of Fire has recovered enough illegal wood to fill 1500 trucks, and 1600 hundred charcoal furnaces have been destroyed. Many fines have also been imposed.

somehow sad and ironic.

[DanGray]

Hi Guys I'm new here
just adding this to the info, it's sorta been mentioned here but here are some pictures also
Making your own charcoal
here any other link of interest
Charcoal Making at Home, Robert Lea

[Michaelangelica]

From a Vermont USA tourist newsletter/guide.

Barker Charcoal Kiln: Not far from the money diggings are the ruins of the Barker Charcoal Kiln. In its day this was a sophisticated kiln. It was a stone enclosure about ten feet high and twenty feet square and the stones were mortared in place.
Hardwood was piled inside and burned slowly to produce the charcoal. The amount of air allowedto the fire controlled the burn and was regulated by a system of holes in the walls of thekiln which could be filled with bricks to close off the draft.
As late as 1981 the south side of the kiln was still in almost perfect condition.

The Valley Voice

I googled to see if I might find an image of this. I didn't; but I did find this


Charcoal Kilns from Death Valley National Park?
I thought it was a desert?

The charcoal kilns stand in Wildrose canyon, in western Death Valley, at an elevation of 6,800 feet. They can be reached by a good dirt road where you can drive a regular car. In early April, there was still some snow remaining. When you arrive and discover the kilns, the view is stunning. What is that, is that a village ?

Other Points of Interest - Death Valley National Park Travel Guide - VirtualTourist.com
and a better pic of the same?

9. Charcoal Kilns in Wildrose Canyon

The Charcoal Kilns were built in 1867 to reduce the local Pinon Pines and Juniper trees to charcoal by a process of slow controlled burning. The charcoal was then used to smelt gold and lead ore in the local mines. However, after just a few years of use, they were abandoned, one of the reason behind the longevity of these kilns.

Our Beautiful World at the Backroads

[Michaelangelica]

Here is a surprise from left field
Plantstones!!!
Plants that make their own charcoal !
You can see the show here
The 7.30 Report - ABC
Look for "Australian Scientists Discover Carbon Storage Solution"

Therefore, unlike most plant matter
which readily decomposes in soil returning CO2 to the atmosphere, the
carbon in plantstones effectively removes CO2 from the atmosphere for
millenia."

The show's transcript is here
http://www.abc.net.au/7.30/content/2008/s2352434.htm
Grassy crops seem to be good at this, like sugar cane and bamboo.
So it make be competition for the "Tree Huggers"?
Back to the drawing board to do more sums on carbon sequestration- better by grass or trees?!!!

[DanGray]

very interesting , thanks

[DanGray]

I'd post the new link to that if I could but can't post links untill have at least 10 posts here it seems .you have to search for the right link now..

[Michaelangelica]

How to Make some Charcoal
How to Make some Charcoal

[Michaelangelica]

Charcoal Making Stoves

On 14/10/2008, Ron Larson (snip) wrote:
> Biochar and stoves list members (special "hello" again to Dr. Yuri):
>
1. I forward the following because I believe the following dialog
deserves an audience on both "stoves" and "biochar". I sense that only a
few dozen people are members of both "Tom Miles" lists. Many "biochar" list
members will therefore be unaware of a 12+ year charcoal-making dialog
history on "stoves". Many "stoves" list members will be unaware of present
charcoal-making discussions on "biochar"
The first part of this dialog below is on very large scale char
production that can be seen at
Wood Charcoal (technologies) BIOENERGY LLC "


Andrew has helpfully commented on every section of Yury's (often
spelled "Yuri") short message today. I add one comment below as well in
item #2 - about needing two compartments in some (wet) climates.

2. The second part of this "stoves" dialog is also pertinent to
"biochar" - as both Andrew and Yuri are commenting on some dialog today
(and a few days earlier) on "stoves" about a different type of small scale
charcoal maker which is toroidal in shape (the inverse perhaps of what Folke
has been describing on "biochar"). A dialog like this also appeared on the
"stoves" list 10-12 years ago (also of Indian origin, but different) and a
prototype was demonstrated at the recent IBI conference in Newcastle.
Andrew (coordinator of the "stoves" list) is to be commended for bringing
his extensive knowledge on charcoal-making to bear in improving (hopefully)
this design.

3. I re-send this to "stoves" list members as well - who may not be
aware that there is a lot more these days on charcoal-making (including
small scale) on "biochar". I hope people thinking especially large-scale
charcoal-making (like Yuri) will also communicate on, and be members of,
"biochar".

Apologies to all who are on both "biochar" and "stoves". Ron

reposted with permisssion

[erich]

New Biochar Stoves at the 2009 Ethos Conference in Washington State, USA
Kelpie Wilson, IBI Media Liaison

On January 23 – 25, about 100 “stovers” gathered in Kirkland, Washington for the annual ETHOS (Engineers in Technical and Humanitarian Opportunities of Service) conference devoted to meeting household energy needs in the developing world. Improved stove technology was only part of a program that included discussion of standards and testing, distribution and manufacturing, and the intricacies of carbon credit financing.

The highlight of the conference occurred at the ceremonial “lighting of the stoves” late on Sunday afternoon on the concrete steps outside the conference hall under a light flurry of snow. A variety of innovative designs were on display, but only two of the stoves were able to operate in a pyrolysis mode to produce charcoal.

The International Biochar Initiative (IBI)

[Michaelangelica]

Biochar is starting to be used for stricly pyrolosis derived char but not everyone is using it this way
IMHO it is pyrolosis Char is best as it reduces smoke emission (by 90%+?) and uses the energy to keep the char burning and sell off the energy as bio-oil or as electricity from a generator
The closesest thing around to a perpetaul motion machine?

In the meantime this is an interesting article. A good introduction you can give someone on the whole deal

To make biochar, pile up woody debris in a shallow pit in a garden bed. Burn the brush until the smoke tins and then damp-down the fire by covering it with about an inch of soil. Let it smoulder until the brush is charred, then put the fire out.
. . .
The white smoke, produced early on, is mostly water vapor. As the smoke turns yellow, resins and sugars in the material are being burned. When the smoke thins and turns grayish blue, dampen down the fire by covering it with about an inch of soil to reduce the air supply, and leave it to smolder. Then, after the organic matter has smoldered into charcoal chunks, use water to put out the fire. Another option would be to make charcoal from wood scraps in metal barrels. (For details, go to Twin Oaks Forge.)
. . .
I’m part of the Smokey-the-Bear generation, raised on phrases like “learn not to burn,” so it took me a while to warm up to the idea of using semi-open burning as a soil-building technique
. . .
But there’s more. What if you generate energy by burning a renewable biomass crop (like wood, corn, peanut hulls, bamboo, willow or whatever), while also producing biochar that is then stashed away by using it as a soil amendment? (For an example, see the Archive article, Mother’s Woodburning Truck, about wood-gas generators.) The carbon recovery numbers in such a system make it the only biomass model found thus far that can produce energy without a net release of carbon.
. . .
As gardeners, it is up to us to find ways to adapt this new knowledge to the needs of our land. To make the most of my bonfire of weeds, I staged the burn in a trench dug in my garden, and then used the excavated soil to smother the fire.
A layer of biochar now rests buried in the soil. Hundreds of years from now, it will still be holding carbon while energizing the soil food web. This simple melding of soil and fire, first discovered by ancient people in the Amazon, may be a “new” key to feeding ourselves while restoring the health of our planet.

Make Biochar ? this Ancient Technique Will Improve Your Soil
MOther' s Woodburning Truck

The method I use requires 55 gallon barrels. Once you get the idea I am sure you can modify this method to suite your needs.

Making Charcoal