[Terrapreta] torrefied wood or charcoal?

Sun Mar 2 23:04:07 CST 2008

Gerrit, Greg, Sean,

This is a good collection of information. What charcoal is Larry Williams
using? His collection of TP additives appears to offset whatever else is in
the charcoal. J

Tom

From: terrapreta-bounces at bioenergylists.org
[mailto:terrapreta-bounces at bioenergylists.org] On Behalf Of Gerald Van
Koeverden
Sent: Sunday, March 02, 2008 8:39 PM
To: Terra Preta
Subject: Re: [Terrapreta] torrefied wood or charcoal?

Here is the official ingredient list for Kingsford Charcoal Briquets from a
company press release, including the purpose of each ingredient in
parentheses. The explanation after each ingredient is my own.

.         Wood char (Heat source)
This is simply the wood by-products I mentioned above, burned down into
charcoal-almost pure carbon. In the case of Kingsford, they use woods like
fir, cedar, and alder that are local to the regions in which they
operate-Burnside and Summer Shade, Kentucky; Glen, Mississippi; Belle,
Missouri; Springfield, Oregon; and Beryl and Parsons, West Virginia.

.         Mineral char (Heat source)
This is a geologically young form of coal with a soft, brown texture. It
helps Kingsford burn hotter and longer than a plain charcoal briquette. As
with the wood, Kingsford heats this material in an oxygen-controlled
environment, eliminating water, nitrogen, and other elements, leaving
behind-almost pure carbon.

.         Mineral carbon (Heat source)
This is anthracite coal, the old, hard, black stuff once commonly used for
home heating. It helps Kingsford burn hotter and longer than a plain
charcoal briquette. It's already 86-98% pure carbon, but once again,
Kingsford processes it in an oxygen-controlled environment, leaving
behind-almost pure carbon.

What exactly is coal, you ask? "Nasty stuff," some folks say. Well, coal is
a fossil fuel, most of which was formed more than 300 million years ago. To
make a really, really long story short: Plants and trees died, sank to the
bottom of swampy areas, accumulated into many layers, then geologic
processes covered the stuff with sand, clay, and rock, and the combination
of heat and pressure converted it into what we call coal.

So, coal is really old plant material that can be processed into almost pure
carbon. Charcoal is wood that is burned down into almost pure carbon. Not
much difference, in my book. End of coal lesson.

.         Limestone (Uniform visual ashing)
Limestone creates the pretty, white coating of ash you see after lighting
the briquettes. Limestone is a sedimentary rock consisting of calcium
carbonate-also found in egg shells, antacids, and calcium dietary
supplements.

.         Starch (Binder)
As mentioned above, starch is used to hold briquettes together, and is found
in corn, wheat, potatoes, and rice.

.         Borax (Press release)
Borax is used in small amounts to help briquettes release from the molds.
But isn't Borax a detergent? Well, yes, it is, but it's actually a
naturally-occurring mineral that is non-toxic in the quantities we're
talking about in a briquette. It consists of sodium, boron, oxygen, and
water. You already know what oxygen and water are. Sodium is a common
element found in lots of stuff we eat, including salt. Boron is an element
that is necessary in small quantities for plant growth. Borax is commonly
used in cosmetics and medicines.

.         Sodium nitrate (Ignition aid)
This is the same stuff used to cure meat. According to Robert L. Wolke,
professor emeritus of chemistry at the University of Pittsburgh, sodium
nitrate gives off oxygen when heated, helping the briquettes to light
faster.

.         Sawdust (Ignition aid)
Sawdust burns quickly, helping the briquettes to light faster.

from: http://www.virtualweberbullet.com/charcoal.html

On 2-Mar-08, at 11:25 PM, Greg and April wrote:

Actually my data came from the Colorado extension service.

They specifically said that the ash from charcoal briquettes contains high
levels of clay, and while clay might be a good thing in sandy soils - it's
not good for most Colorado soils that already have high levels of clay.

This is the first time I have heard of borax being used in charcoal
briquettes.

One way to put to rest about what materials are being used to make charcoal
briquettes, is to get a MSDS - by law a company has to supply one when
requested, and they have to list everything that is used.

That's how I found out that a common ingredient in diesel fuel additives to
raise cetane levels of diesel fuel is trace amounts of an explosive.

Greg H.

----- Original Message ----- From: "Gerald Van Koeverden" <vnkvrdn at yahoo.ca>

To: "Terra Preta" <terrapreta at bioenergylists.org>

Sent: Sunday, March 02, 2008 21:04

Subject: Re: [Terrapreta] torrefied wood or charcoal?

To Tom, Jim, Sean, Greg, et al,

As a farmer, I know that generally ashes enrich the soil.  Every

example of brush burn piles I have seen, has resulted in more healthy

plants.  The effect lasts 3 or 4 years.  Of course, I'm sure that too

much of any good thing turns out bad.  But in general, wood ashes in

moderation are good for the soil.

The first place I've read of ashes being toxic to growth is when I

did an Internet search of compost-making recipes.  In them, I was

shocked to read how many of them discouraged using charcoal in

general, even though the only 'bad' material ever specifically

mentioned was briquette charcoal ashes.  For some reason, compost

makers have allowed their bad experiences with briquette ash to

colour their experiences with charcoal in general.

If we could understand the chemical basis for these bad experiences

with this briquette ash,  we would then be able to explain it and

help educate others in better appreciating the merits of using

charcoal as a soil amendment.  The answer might be as simple as

determining that boron (from the borax added to charcoal briquettes)

is toxic to plant growth especially at the higher concentration after

briquettes are reduced to ash.  Boron is an essential plant

micronutrient, but, for example, becomes poisonous to lemon trees at

concentrations of only 1 part per million!   (If anybody finds out

how much borax is in a bag of briquettes, we could do some

calculations for it in the ash content.  I don't think it vaporizes,

otherwise they wouldn't allow us to us it for cooking, right...?)

Unfortunately, none of us have the facts to explain this briquette

ash quandry, at present.

Gerald

On 2-Mar-08, at 2:56 PM, Jim Joyner wrote:

Sean,

While agree with your conclusion, "torrefied is likely not as

useful or

effective in making an improvement to the soil as is low ash

charcoal",

I'm afraid your reasoning is based on faulty information.

Sean K. Barry wrote:

High ash content means higher pH.

This may be true but not necessarily. If there is a proper amount of

calcium and magnesium in the soil, the increased pH, mostly due to

adding potassium in ash, will not persist long. It will wash out.

This is not good for any soils unless they are very acidic to

begin with.

Raising the pH of soil with ash (potassium), without regard to calcium

and magnesium, will create brick. So, this would not be good,

necessarily, for a acid  or any other soil.

Raising the soil pH lowers the cation exchange capacity (CEC),

This is simply not true. You've got it backwards. CEC is not

affected by

pH. Ph may be affected by the things used to increase the CEC like

clay

particles (mostly silicates) or carbon (not charcoal). One typically

adjusts soil calcium, magnesium and potassium according the CEC. Once

that is done, pH will be slightly acid to neutral.

If charcoal in the soil raises CEC, it doesn't do it directly by

addition. It may indeed create a habitat more conducive to the

creation

and holding of stable humus, which does increase CEC.

 Higher pH is not a habitable environment for many soil

micro-organisms, either.

Just about everything that grows likes a pH of 6.8. But the

addition of

charcoal or torrified wood are unlikely to affect pH at all.

More importantly, pH is a boogey man. It's just a concept for

measuring

something that is rarely useful. A good, balanced soil will have a

slightly acid ph. However, a soil that has a slightly acid soil

will not

necessarily grow anything. There are only nutrients and cations in

active soil (I do not include charcoal as active -- it's virtue

seems to

be in its inactivity and crystalline structure). There are no pHs.

Having said all that, since many of the compounds in torrified wood

can

be acted upon by organic processes, my concern for adding torrified

wood

to soil would be that it would be much adding sawdust. It won't affect

pH but it will tie up nitrogen, taking it from crops .. . . for a

long time.

Jim

_______________________________________________

Terrapreta mailing list

Terrapreta at bioenergylists.org

http://bioenergylists..org/mailman/listinfo/
<http://bioenergylists.org/mailman/listinfo/> 

terrapreta_bioenergylists.org

http://terrapreta.bioenergylists.org

http://info.bioenergylists.org

_______________________________________________

Terrapreta mailing list

Terrapreta at bioenergylists.org

http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/biochar/

http://terrapreta.bioenergylists.org

http://info.bioenergylists.org 

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: /attachments/20080302/d35e4faa/attachment.html 