[Terrapreta] Low tech retorts used to make charcoal

[Rick Davies]

re Kurt's advice as follows,

>
>
> A retort set up will let you make charcoal with minimal smoke and air
> pollution. Such a system can be as simple as a 5?gallon tin in a simple
> cob fireplace, with a simple fan supplying extra draft to the fire, or a
> good chimney. The can will need a removable lid, it will need small
> holes in the bottom for the  gases to get out and feed the fire below.
> Properly regulated, there will be little smoke.
> There are a number of websites describing the sort of thing I mean. Go
> googling.


Not sure how to effectively google this, so could Kurt or others help me
with some website references?

Reason: I am looking for similar low tech options that would be usable by
poor rural communities in Africa and Asia, which could enable them to obtain
two possible benefits: local soil improvements, and saleable carbon credits
(in official CC markets or voluntary offset markets)

Am also interested in associated low tech alternatives to using burned
biomass used to fuel the pyrolysis process. Especially the possibility of
adapting solar cookers. If this was possible the CO2 cost of creating the
bio-char could be reduced substantially. The process may take more time, but
time may not necessarily be so critical.

regards, rick davies
www.mande.co.uk

------------------------------
>
> Message: 5
> Date: Sun, 25 Mar 2007 19:06:01 -0700
> From: Richard Haard <richrd at nas.com>
> Subject: Re: [Terrapreta] Terra Preta Trials 2007
> To: Kelpie Wilson <kelpie at kelpiewilson.com>
> Cc: Larry Williams <lwilliams at nas.com>, terrapreta at bioenergylists.org
> Message-ID: <46981414-00ED-4AFF-9AA5-03C219DAA383 at nas.com>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
>
>
> On Mar 25, 2007, at 11:50 AM, Kelpie Wilson wrote:
>
> > Here in the Oregon woods, we are constantly clearing small trees
> > and brush around our houses to increase our fire safety. We clear
> > the brush and then make burn piles - spring and fall you will see
> > small burn piles in every back yard. I asked my husband to try to
> > make his burn pile a little cooler to make more charcoal and less
> > ash. After all the small stuff - leaves and small branches - burned
> > up, he misted it with the hose to cool it down and left it
> > smoldering all night. The next day we put the fire out completely
> > with water. We ended up with a nice pile of charcoal for the
> > garden, about 3 wheelbarrow loads of mixed charcoal and ash.
> >
> > I figure that if nothing else, we are keeping some carbon out of
> > the atmosphere by controlling the burn pile this way - we have to
> > burn anyway.
> >
> > Does anyone have any tips for how much of this charcoal to put in
> > my garden beds? They are raised beds about 4 feet wide and 20 feet
> > long. How thick a charcoal layer do I need? How deep into the soil
> > should I bury it?
> >
> > Thanks,
> > Kelpie
>
>
> Hello Kelpie - This is also a study topic for me.
>
> To take advantage of the benefits of charcoal it should be combined
> with fertilizer or compost or manure what ever you are normally using
> in your gardening. You could use as much as 10% to 30 % by volume
> that you work into the root zone with a hoe or fork. If you are
> planting into rows you may apply the charcoal in strips and leave
> other strips untreated, (or bed sections). To see if there is any
> difference.
>
> If your soil is acidic the charcoal and ash will raise the pH. If you
> are concerned about your soil becoming too alkaline you may remove
> the ash before applying.  pH testing is easy to do with  litmus
> papers purchased at your garden store.
>
> Lastly all of us here who are also studying this use of charcoal
> would appreciate if you save a small sample in a mason jar with some
> notes on what you did to make the stuff and what kinds of biomass as
> it may be useful to study the sample at some time in the future.
>
> For your interest here is a clip from a  posting by Larry Williams
> that we sent out to our local friends on the topic.
>
> This may give you some additional ideas on using charcoal and please
> keep us posted on how your garden is growing.
>
> Rich Haard
> Bellingham, Washington
>
>
>
> My approach in working with the soil is very different from Rich with
> his scientific and agricultural experience. I draw my experience from
> landscaping, wetland restoration, forest ecological workshops and a
> very close tie to nature since childhood. My techniques follow
> Permaculture concepts to a certain degree although I have a strong
> tie to a temperate ecology as it relates to woody debris in the forest.
>
> With Terra Preta, I attempt to view it's usage as I perceive a
> villager would observe it's potential. My meager attempt to make
> charcoal last season was based on city (Bellingham) living with fire
> and smoke restrictions enforced. This means that I made charcoal in a
> Weber grill cooking Alder smoked chicken. A tasty meal with a few
> pieces of charcoal to place in the garden. For the last eight years I
> have cooked on the Weber year round. This translates to three or four
> times a month. So I cumulated a nice little pile, 20 lbs. or so of
> charcoal and charred wood, once I decided to collect the charcoal.
>
> My vegetable bed in Bellingham is layered with composted wood chip,
> leaves, up rooted weeds, grass clippings and sea weed over the
> growing season. The dirt is covered and the soil structure is left as
> undisturbed as possible. I use iron phosphate pellets for slug control.
>
> Yes, I do feel very comfortable with my field experience and do feel
> overwhelmed around strict scientist. Rich has guided me on many
> points based in science that are beyond my schooling and
> observational powers. We have enjoyed each others style for some time
> now. I haven't quite converted him yet though he got excited when he
> photographed the charcoal from under the swiss chard.  He later wrote
> that there was an "abundance of fungal hyphae adhering to the
> charcoal after a relatively short time buried" (four or five months
> later).
>
> I recently did a charcoal (from strawberry guava) pit burn on the
> Kona coast of Hawaii for usage in a garden. The fire was started
> around 10:30 PM. Given that there was more lava rocks than soil I
> needed to smother the fire with green grass, relatively dry coconut
> fronds (leaves) with the petiole laden with moisture and banana
> leaves. This layering was covered with wet cardboard and then covered
> with a light coat of soil. The pile was rained on and hand watered
> till early morning. The fire did break through around 7:30 AM and
> started to burn some charcoal to ash as I put the fire out with a
> hose. I ended up with just over three five gallon buckets of charcoal
> with a quarter of that as charred wood.
>
> What impressed me most was the rich smell of the steamed and charred
> grass (the green additions). I thought of the compost teas made from
> garden weeds which is a different smell and is a very rich soup to
> give to garden plants (this is something that I do in Bellingham). If
> I would have been able to I would have soaked the charcoal (from
> strawberry guava) and charred wood with these greens and then used
> them in the planting beds.
>
> Since I am stateside now a friend will keep me informed on the
> actions taken and if he sees any significant results. I suggested
> that he only do half of any planting row and that he could decide to:
> 1) bury the charcoal in a new planting bed under 4 or 5 inches of
> soil or
> 2) mix the charcoal (smaller pieces) in the top 3 inches of the soil or
> 3) spread the charcoal on the surface and
> 4) with the charred pieces of wood he could drive the wood into the
> soil (with a hammer if needed) around shrubs. I pointed at some
> pepper plants that could use this technique.
>
> This gives you some idea of how I have decided to use charcoal.
>
>
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-- 
Rick Davies (Dr)
Monitoring and Evaluation Consultant
Cambridge, United Kingdom
Phone: (44) 01223 841367
Mobile:  (44) 07855 766 354
Skype: rickjdavies
Fax(to email): 44 (0)870 1640239
Email: rick.davies at gmail.com (NOT rich.davies at gmail.com)
Monitoring and Evaluation NEWS at http://www.mande.co.uk
Rick on the Road at http://www.mandenews.blogspot.com
Homepage at http://www.shimbir.demon.co.uk
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