[Terrapreta] Making charcoal in a barrel
Robert Flanagan
saffechina at gmail.com
Sun Sep 23 21:59:26 EDT 2007
Hey Gerrit,
Making charcoal is very easy, heat the biomass up to the start of it's
exothermic curve and away she go's! In the barrel setup that I described to
David all the oxygen is consumed and the heat given off forces the cooler
biomass to rise in temperature and so on. The hard part is keeping a flame
to burn as much of the off gasses as possible as there is typically a lot of
steam coming off and that's the reason to get a good fire going first and
add the rest of your biomass slowly.
>From what I can make out from the look of the high ash content of this guys
charcoal he's doing some thing that I described and I know he's going around
this local area teaching others http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sRhTmKySnhA
Give it a try in a tin can and you'll see your self.
Rob.
On 9/23/07, Gerald Van Koeverden <vnkvrdn at yahoo.ca> wrote:
>
> rob,
>
> I don't understand how you can produce char without any method of keeping
> the oxygen out of the system?? If such a simple system could work, it'd be
> dead easy to adapt it to into a process for continuous field charring of
> crop residues...Maybe I'm misunderstanding it??
>
>
> Gerrit
>
>
>
> On 22-Sep-07, at 12:24 AM, Robert Flanagan wrote:
>
> Dear David,
>
>
> If your going to go ahead and make charcoal in a barrel then I'll give you
> a simple method to get you on your way.
> First if possible cut and dry the biomass by leaving it in the sun for a
> few weeks.
> Then you'll need a 55gallon drum, long handled spade and some matches.
> Place your barrel on it's side on the ground facing into the wind if
> possible and put some biomass inside (1/3 full).
> Then light a fire under the biomass at the opening of the barrel and allow
> the fire to build until you've got a good fire going with lots of glowing
> embers.
> Then using the spade push the embers into the barrel and add more biomass
> (The goal here is to keep a flame to burn as much off gasses as possible so
> only add biomass a bit at a time)
> Keep doing this until you have a good quantity of char then using the
> spade lift the barrel upright.
> Again start adding biomass and once it looks like it's all on fire knock
> it back down into the barrel with the spade and add more biomass.
> You can keep doing this until your barrel in full of char.
> Then put a lid on top and maybe weigh the lid down with a block and leave
> for several hours to cool down.
>
> The charcoal produced in this method will have a higher ash content but
> should be fine for your home experiments.
>
> Best of luck,
> Rob.
>
>
> On 9/22/07, David Yarrow <dyarrow at nycap.rr.com > wrote:
> >
> > actually, i'd like to respectfully disagree with robert. and yet agree
> > with
> > his more fundamental logic that the amazonian natives didn't charcoal
> > trees.
> > but they didn't just charcoal corn stalks, either.
> >
> > i recall nearly 40 years ago i learned how to make earthenware pottery
> > from
> > a man who lived many years with the navajo in the southwestern
> > states. he
> > fired his pottery in a pit with cow pies. i was amazed they would even
> > burn, and even more amazed how hot they could get. then he should me
> > how to
> > damp down the glowering pit of redhot cowpies and create a reducing fire
> > to
> > turn the pottery black.
> >
> > when i moved into my 190-year-old farmhouse 10 years ago, i could see
> > the
> > soil was wasted, wornout and depleted from the ratty lawn and poor
> > diversity
> > of plant species. my neighbor, who grew up in my house, saw me starting
> > a
> > garden and came over to warn me i wouldn't get anything to grow. i
> > thanked
> > him and continued doing what i had learned to do to create fertile
> > topsoil.
> >
> > these days, i have milkweed, valerian, goosefoot, other weeds that reach
> > 5
> > to 8 foot tall, with sout, sturdy stems. and the bamboo and
> > rosebushes!!
> > even my pokeweed grows into giant bushes. and the trees that once
> > barely
> > grew are blooming like mad, making multitudes of seeds which fall on
> > fertile
> > soil and sprout like mad into sapling weed trees. all this before i
> > found
> > out about charcoal.
> >
> > so my once wasted and weak soil is now busting out with bioversity and
> > biomass all through the growing season. i am still amazed how each
> > spring
> > when the snow melts, the flat soil erupts in green growth that soon
> > soars up
> > to and over my head. since much of this annual outburst of growth is
> > "weeds," i have an abundance of biomass to harvest and stuff in a
> > pyrolyer -- or pottery kiln. long before i get to harvesting
> > cornstalks, i
> > could have barrels of charcoal ready to spread -- most of it fine
> > textured,
> > and easily crushed into powder without metal tools or power
> > equipment. and
> > absolutely no reason to cut down any trees to make firewood or charcoal.
> >
> > i seriously, thoroughly doubt the amazon tribes needed to cut down trees
> > just to make charcoal. if nothing else, it was far too much work.
> >
> > David Yarrow
> > "If yer not forest, yer against us."
> > Turtle EyeLand Sanctuary
> > 44 Gilligan Road, East Greenbush, NY 12061
> > dyarrow at nycap.rr.com
> > www.championtrees.org
> > www.OnondagaLakePeaceFestival.org<http://www.onondagalakepeacefestival.org/>
> > www.citizenre.com/dyarrow/
> > www.farmandfood.org
> > www.SeaAgri.com <http://www.seaagri.com/>
> >
> > "Happiness can be found even in the darkest of times,
> > if one only remembers to turn on the light."
> > -Albus Dumbledore
> > ----- Original Message -----
> > From: "Kevin Chisholm" < kchisholm at ca.inter.net>
> > Sent: Friday, September 21, 2007 9:28 PM
> > Subject: Re: [Terrapreta] Terra preta postings on arclein blog
> >
> >
> > > Dear Sean
> > >
> > > Sean K. Barry wrote:
> > >> Robert!
> > >>
> > >> YOU HAVE ABSOLUTELY NO EVIDENCE TO SUPPORT YOUR ASSERTION THAT
> > AMAZONIAN
> > >> PEOPLE MADE ALL OF THE TERRA PRETA FROM CORN STOVER 2500 YEARS AGO!
> > >> WOULD YOU PLEASE QUIT STATING THIS AS FACT?
> > >
> > > What would you suggest as being a more feasible, practical, or likely
> > > way for the natives to make char?
> > >
> > > Is there any reason why the char required for terra preta would not be
> >
> > > made in this manner?
> > >
> > > Best wishes,
> > >
> > > Kevin
> > >>
> > >> SKB
> > >>
> > >> ----- Original Message -----
> > >> *From:* Robert Klein <mailto: arclein at yahoo.com>
> > >> *To:* terrapreta at bioenergylists.org
> > >> <mailto: terrapreta at bioenergylists.org >
> > >> *Sent:* Friday, September 21, 2007 4:30 PM
> > >> *Subject:* [Terrapreta] Terra preta postings on arclein blog
> > >>
> > >> I thought that I would work through the 250 message
> > >> backlog from this group sitting in my inbox this
> > >> weekend. A daunting task. However I am pleased to
> > >> see the extensive sharing of information on forests
> > >> taking place. I expect that I will be able to quote
> > >> some of this on my Blog.
> > >>
> > >> I also sat down and developed a list of my terra preta
> > >> related postings, not all reposted to this group and
> > >> posted that on my blog. I am including a list here
> > >> for you to peruse. My advice is to start at the
> > >> beginning to the description of the corn stack method
> > >> of indigenous production and then jump to the end and
> > >> work backward.
> > >>
> > >> I see no realistic way to economically produce terra
> > >> preta without resorting to a variation of the original
> > >> production method. Concern was raised about the
> > >> production of methane which I see as misplaced. In
> > >> fact, the methane will likely provide the majority of
> > >> the heat in the combustion process, but this needs to
> > >> be properly field tested.
> > >>
> > >> Here you go. While you are at it bookmark my site or
> > >> subscribe as I post daily on a range of related
> > >> subjects. Even better give me stuff to comment on.
> > >>
> > >>
> > >> http://globalwarming-arclein.blogspot.com/2007/06/carbonization.html
> >
> > >>
> > >>
> > >> http://globalwarming-arclein.blogspot.com/2007/06/corn-cultures-bright-furure.html
> >
> > >>
> > >> http://globalwarming-arclein.blogspot.com/2007/06/total-carbon-sequestration-potential.html
> >
> > >>
> > >> http://globalwarming-arclein.blogspot.com/2007/06/tropical-soils_26.html
> >
> > >>
> > >>
> > >> http://globalwarming-arclein.blogspot.com/2007/07/discussion-with-ron-larsen-on-terra.html
> >
> > >> http://globalwarming-arclein.blogspot.com/2007/07/human-labor.html
> >
> > >>
> > >> http://globalwarming-arclein.blogspot.com/2007/07/those-amazonian-soils.html
> >
> > >>
> > >> http://globalwarming-arclein.blogspot.com/2007/07/pollutants-from-carbonization.html
> >
> > >>
> > >>
> > >> http://globalwarming-arclein.blogspot.com/2007/07/nutrient-accumulation.html
> >
> > >>
> > >> http://globalwarming-arclein.blogspot.com/2007/07/uniqueness-of-corn-culture.html
> >
> > >> http://globalwarming-arclein.blogspot.com/2007/07/amazon.html
> > >>
> > >>
> > >> http://globalwarming-arclein.blogspot.com/2007/08/heat-distribution-and-terra-preta-soils.html
> >
> > >>
> > >> http://globalwarming-arclein.blogspot.com/2007/08/getting-job-done-biochar-on-modern-farm.html
> >
> > >>
> > >> http://globalwarming-arclein.blogspot.com/2007/08/tom-miles-comments-on-biochar.html
> >
> > >>
> > >>
> > >> http://globalwarming-arclein.blogspot.com/2007/08/mel-landers-and-jackie-foo-on-field.html
> >
> > >>
> > >> http://globalwarming-arclein.blogspot.com/2007/08/methane-and-pottery.html
> >
> > >>
> > >> http://globalwarming-arclein.blogspot.com/2007/09/glopbal-corn-culture.html
> >
> > >>
> > >>
> > >> enjoy
> > >>
> > >> arclein
> > >>
> > >>
> > >>
> > >>
> > >>
> > >>
> > >>
> > ____________________________________________________________________________________
> >
> > >> Catch up on fall's hot new shows on Yahoo! TV. Watch previews,
> > get
> > >> listings, and more!
> > >> http://tv.yahoo.com/collections/3658
> > >>
> > >> _______________________________________________
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> > Terrapreta at bioenergylists.org>
> > >>
> > >> http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/biochar/
> >
> > >> http://terrapreta.bioenergylists.org
> > >> http://info.bioenergylists.org
> > >>
> > >>
> > >>
> > ------------------------------------------------------------------------
> > >>
> > >> _______________________________________________
> > >> Terrapreta mailing list
> > >> Terrapreta at bioenergylists.org
> > >> http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/biochar/
> >
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> > >> http://info.bioenergylists.org
> > >
> > >
> > > _______________________________________________
> > > Terrapreta mailing list
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> > > http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/biochar/
> >
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> > > http://info.bioenergylists.org
> >
> >
> > _______________________________________________
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> > http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/biochar/
> >
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> > http://info.bioenergylists.org
> >
>
>
>
> --
> Robert Flanagan
> Chairman & President
> Hangzhou Sustainable Agricultural Food & Fuel Enterprise Co., Ltd.
>
> Skype "saffechina"
> Tel: 86-571-881-850-67
> Cell: 86-130-189-959-57 _______________________________________________
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>
>
>
--
Robert Flanagan
Chairman & President
Hangzhou Sustainable Agricultural Food & Fuel Enterprise Co., Ltd.
Skype "saffechina"
Tel: 86-571-881-850-67
Cell: 86-130-189-959-57
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