[Terrapreta] Larry Williams' Wood Vinegar and Charcoal Project

Wed Jul 11 20:40:00 EDT 2007

Gerald-------Thanks for the website, I was unable to open anything  
("not found on this server") to better understand how they handle  
wood vinegar. I feel that we are children playing with charcoal  
compared to what is taking place in Asia. It's a feeling that I need  
to just live with. It seems true based on the articles that I read.

Richard and I are funding these activities and we have to consider  
how to accomplish our goals with very limited resources. Of course,  
we find as much fun out of the process as possible. At the same time,  
we both agree that our own well-being will be improved if we achieve  
an effective burning technique that captures off-gasses and greatly  
reduces the release of greenhouse gases.

At no point in the retort burn did the released (vented) gases  
sustain a flame. Only by using a propane torch were the gases flared.  
What can be do to have a continuous flame? See: http://www.flickr.com/ 
photos/rchaard/sets/72157600696136152/ . In this burn I was dismayed  
by the lost of heat and smoke from the fire under the retort. Next  
time I will use a propane torch and a loose lid on the 55 gallon drum  
(the outer container). Even with the 3" (7.6 cm) adapter on the  
retort lid venting and contained by the lid of the larger drum, a  
propane torch should be able to heat the retort much faster than that  
of a wood fire. I am right that this is not an explosive situation--- 
right? I have ask this question many times to others and believe that  
being safe wins the day. By putting a untighten lid on the larger  
drum have the conditions changed to create an explosion given that  
there is some O2 in the retort initially?

We both enjoyed the bamboo explosions within the 55 gallon drum and  
agreed that there were likely some silica in the wood splinters to  
not expose ourselves to. At some point, I would like to load the  
retort with pieces of bamboo for a firing. It might be quite a sound  
event if the bamboo isn't dry. We could split the culms. Well, not in  
the center of the retort. Bamboo in the Bellingham area is usually  
less than 2" (5 cm) in diameter

A 3" automotive exhaust pipe bolted to the lid of the retort carries  
the venting gasses away from the retort. During this firing it  
received a 90 degree piece of exhaust pipe to carry the heated gases  
horizontally to the side of the 55 gallon drum, then down and back to  
the firebox under the retort. Since I didn't have a good way to hold  
these pieces of pipe together and with hot liquid dripping down the  
second 90 degree piece of pipe, we had to much trouble holding the  
pipe together. So we left the disassembled pipe apart till the next  
firing. I will likely use nails to pin the pipe. Again, we are like  
kids playing in their sand box.

We are looking for the simplest design for making charcoal, for  
collecting part of the gasses and for flaring the remainder. Any  
suggestions would be appreciated-------Larry

On Jul 11, 2007, at 10:11 AM, Gerald Van Koeverden wrote:

> Larry,
>
> The Appropriate Technology Association (based in Thailand) has been  
> teaching villagers how to build 200 cu. liter capacity charcoal  
> kilns out of bricks and then condensing the smoke into wood  
> vinegar.  Their website is
> "http://www.ata.or.th/"
>
> Gerrit
>
> On 11-Jul-07, at 12:54 PM, Larry Williams wrote:
>
>> Today, the latest project to produce charcoal was dissembled. This  
>> was the first charcoal burn (last weekend) using a small metal  
>> retort (3 cu ft) rather than a earthen mound to contain the wood- 
>> to-charcoal event. A very small amount to wood vinegar (methanol--- 
>> aka: CH3OH). The goal was to capture the wood vinegar from the  
>> smoke being vented from the retort and to release very little  
>> smoke. For the first attempt, it was a very modest success.
>>
>>
>>
>> The charred wood can be reburnt (not a problem in this learning  
>> phase) and the released smoke was much more than I had hoped for.
>>
>>
>>
>> The charcoal that was produced was removed from the pieces of  
>> hazel nut and alder wood. It is obvious that there is an art to  
>> this process. As with the three attempts to produce charcoal from  
>> one stack of fire wood (about a cord and a half), the retort burn  
>> was stopped prematurity. This firing was about 80% completed and  
>> there was no ash as there was with the earthen mound burnings.
>>
>>
>>
>> With the close examination of the retort's charred wood and  
>> charcoal a couple of points were noted: the alder pieces were  
>> almost completely  made into charcoal while less than half of the  
>> hazel nut wood was. The other point was that the bottom ends of  
>> the hazel wood (in contact with the bottom of the retort was  
>> charred) Duh! What do you expect? Noticing that the heat was  
>> transferred by the metal bottom led to the thought of how to more  
>> evenly distribute the heat within the retort. Well, my answer, to  
>> be used next time was to intersperse rebar between the vertically  
>> stacked wood in the hopes that the heat will carry up the rebar to  
>> more quickly convert the wood to charcoal.
>>
>>
>>
>> See photos: http://www.flickr.com/photos/rchaard/sets/ 
>> 72157600696136152/ .
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> Charcoal in the soil is going main stream (as a way of reducing  
>> atmospheric carbon through long term storage (50-60,000 years or  
>> more). There is hope-------Larry
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
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