[Terrapreta] Wood vinegar production

Sun Aug 5 02:03:10 EDT 2007

Hey Edward,

When you run a downdraft gasifier at 600C you will have the highest charcoal
yield are lowest ash formation. For info on gasification, just do a search
"Tom Reed + gasification" one of the best reference papers is
http://www.woodgas.com/Superficial%20Velocity.pdf .

Regarding pyrolysis, the only reactor that make sense for green feedstock to
achieve high char yields in the shortest time with low energy inputs is
the "Flash Carbonizer". Finding a way to deal with the high volume of wet
tar rich gas is the only downside.

The key question regarding good char and bad char is, what is the microbial
response to different char and does that response dramatically change when
the char is produce at different temperatures? If we're looking for long
term carbon storage in the soil then the biological response should be one
of the key areas of research. Last year we sent out bamboo charcoal make
under extremely controlled conditions at 400, 450, 500, 550 & 600C but as
yet I've still not received any indication relating to microbial effect.

Regards,
Rob.

On 8/5/07, Edward Someus <edward at terrenum.net> wrote:
>
>    RE Difference between charcoal produced by pyrolysis and gasification:
>
> YES, but as ADDON in the same time you significantly increase the output
> ash content as well by burn off.
>
>
>
> Sincerely yours: Edward Someus (environmental engineer)
> Terra Humana Clean Technology Engineering Ltd.
> (ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 certified organization for scientific research,
> technical development and industrial performance engineering design of
> agro-biotechnological and pyrolysis methods, apparatus and applications)
>
> ADDRESS: H-1222 Budapest, Szechenyi 59, Hungary
> TEL handy:  +(36-20) 201 7557
> TEL / FAX:   +(36-1) 424 0224
> TEL SKYPE phone via computer:  Edward Someus
> WEB:   www.terrenum.net
>  *-------Original Message-------*
>
>  *From:* Robert Flanagan <saffechina at gmail.com>
> *Date:* 2007.08.05. 2:24:06
> *To:* 'Gerald Van Koeverden' <vnkvrdn at yahoo.ca>;
> Terrapreta at bioenergylists.org
> *Subject:* [Terrapreta] Wood vinegar production
>
>
> See http://terrapreta.bioenergylists.org/
>
>
>
> Thanks Gerald for that info,
>
>
>
> Regarding vinegar (liquid smoke) I thought I'd give you some info on how
> it's produced here. I've attached a few photos of two charcoal/vinegar
> reactors. The paddle reactor can heat the biomass via external heat provided
> by lighting a fire below the sealed upper chamber. Then the biomass is
> constantly turned to get a uniformed temperature. The key to high quality
> vinegar production is to take the biomass up to just below it go's
> exothermic (For bamboo that is 285C) and hold it until all the vinegar is
> collected. Jeff at this point you could always feed the hot biomass
> into your gasifier. This is the same reactor I used to make the 50Kg's of
> research charcoal that I sent to ten university's last year.
>
>
>
> The other reactor is a 1.5T (Feed) charcoal reactor that we've been
> working on. We just borrowed one of the condensers from a paddle reactor at
> this point. We produce about 400Kg of vinegar for each 1.5T input as our
> feedstock is quite dry (around 35% moisture content), so you don't need a
> lot of biomass to produce all you need of vinegar. The vinegar is left in
> the sun for about four weeks to allow the tar to separate and settle to the
> bottom.
>
>
>
> The major difference between charcoal produced by pyrolysis
> and gasification is as follows. When you take the biomass into it's
> exothermic range with pyrolysis and limited oxygen the exothermic
> curve should pan out about 400C. With downdraft or TLUD gasification you
> pass primary air through the biomass to a hot carbon layer you flaming
> pyrolysis will never be lower than 600C, so your exothermic range just
> jumped from 285 to 600C. This is a very clean way to make charcoal from
> biomass with a low moisture content.
>
>
>
>
>
> Regards,
>
> Rob.
>
>
>
>
>
> On 7/31/07, *Gerald Van Koeverden* <vnkvrdn at yahoo.ca> wrote:
>
> I've translated some of the pesticide uses of wood vinegar from the
> Thai language on the A.T.A. web site:
>
> 1.  for fungus (mildew?) on tomatoes and cucumbers, spray at a
> concentration of 1:200
> 2.  for tomato root rot, water base of plant at concentration of 1:200
> 3. for cabbage, to repel insects, use concentration of 1:1500 in
> watering can
> 4. for corn, to repel insects, spray 1:300 concentration
>
> Gerrit
>
> On 30-Jul-07, at 11:33 PM, Jeff Davis wrote:
>
> > Robert wrote:
> >> Another product that is a bi-product of charcoal production that
> >> is said
> >> to
> >> work as an effective pesticide is bamboo vinegar (Liquid smoke).
> >
> > Robert, I was thinking about that. My Gas-of-Fire produces
> > something like
> > that and I was considering giving that a try. I bet just the smell
> > would
> > do the trick.
> >
> > Hmmmmm, so with the correct gasifier we can produce a gas fuel to
> > heat our
> > green house (well, maybe I need one), charcoal for Terra Preta and
> > now a
> > pesticide!
> >
> >
> > I hope this all works out!!!!
> >
> >
> >
> > Jeff
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > --
> > Jeff Davis
> >
> > Some where 20 miles south of Lake Erie, USA
> >
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>
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>
>
>
> --
> Robert Flanagan
> Chairman & President
> Hangzhou Sustainable Agricultural Food & Fuel Enterprise Co., Ltd.
>
> Tel:   86-571-881-850-67
> Cell:  86-130-189-959-57
>
>

-- 
Robert Flanagan
Chairman & President
Hangzhou Sustainable Agricultural Food & Fuel Enterprise Co., Ltd.

Tel:   86-571-881-850-67
Cell:  86-130-189-959-57
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