Making Charcoal

Michaelangelica · 03-27-2009

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

Quote:

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

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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

JMJones0424 · 03-27-2009

Well, searching for info on terra preta is what led me to this site to begin with, so I think it is only fair for me to share what I had learned about biochar kilns prior to arriving. This site is a link to a kiln designed by a guy that uses charcoal for blacksmithing. I think it is unique though, in respect that it is easily customizable, and relatively impermanent. Meaning, you can set the kiln up when needed, and disassemble for storage when not needed. It uses 55 gallon metal barrels for the retort and concrete blocks for the kiln body. I would be interested to know if anyone had used a kiln similar to this to produce biochar at the temperatures that preserve wood alcohol levels, in other words low temperature biochar production rather than high temp production. This seems to be the most important factor (along with char component size, which can be adjusted by crushing) involved with biological usefulness of biochar, but I have no experience with using biochar. Any input would be greatly appreciated.

collier · 04-10-2009

The Twin Oaks retort is interesting, the retort/reburner concept is promising. I'm at work on something with a tighter IFB insulated firebox and a jacketed retort aimed at boosting efficiency and safety.

collier · 04-17-2009

I'm currently working on a retort, trying to make it as efficient as possible within the limitations imposed by garage building with salvaged materials, a second-hand buzz box, and steep learning curve. Most fun i've had in years.

mavrickjohn · 05-28-2009

Has anyone posted this link
MAGH CM-II NATURAL DRAFT T-LUD WOODGAS STOVE
It's a simple updraft bio-char stove that can be used as a model for making your own bio-char unit. With modification you might be able to heat your hot water for washing or to warm your house and generate all the charcoal you need for your garden. Let's make producing bio-char take some of the Co2 emissions that we generate every day out of the bio loop. Seems insane to me to heat your house with natural gas then burn some wood to make Bio-char so you can add it to your garden. Or to put it another way spend the day making bio -char and that night and for the rest of the week barbecue with some of the charcoal you just got through making or worse yet buy some charcoal briquet's with hickory flavored smoke for cooking your dinner for the next week?

erich · 06-14-2009

This just came to the Biochar list;

Two-Can Stove Making Charcoal

I have a new cooking stove design that makes charcoal.
Its best features are, the simplicity of construction, its functionality and its low cost.
It makes charcoal better than my more sophisticated design!…that I have been working on!… for years!…. Ouch!

Lanny Henson

YouTube - The Two-Can Stove

Michaelangelica · 07-17-2009

There is some info on the biochar list serve
+
English Charcoal, environment, history and woodmanship

Felbridge History Group - Charcoal
+
Making Charcoal
+
Charcoal black - history

A lot more seem to be appearing / evolving? now on the web

maikeru · 07-18-2009

Quote:

Originally Posted by erich

This just came to the Biochar list;

Two-Can Stove Making Charcoal

I have a new cooking stove design that makes charcoal.
Its best features are, the simplicity of construction, its functionality and its low cost.
It makes charcoal better than my more sophisticated design!…that I have been working on!… for years!…. Ouch!

Lanny Henson

YouTube - The Two-Can Stove

<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/gJfvgyy8Ncs&hl=en&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/gJfvgyy8Ncs&hl=en&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>

Wonderful clip, Erich.