[Gasification] Biochar et al.

David Murphy djfmurphy at dodo.com.au
Sun Dec 8 01:45:24 CST 2013


Joe, my apologies - a typo.    Instead of " a 
world which generates now (probably) 20 million 
tonnes annually." that should read 20 _billion_ 
not million !

On 08/12/2013 12:33 PM, Joe Barnas wrote:
> DAVID,
>
> Thankyou for the insightful overview of biochar 
> and comparative functionality of Zeolite, of 
> which I was not familiar.
>
> However one thing I am focused on is how to 
> address catastrophic global climate change and 
> for that having billions of gardeners 
> sequestering carbon, while building healthy soil 
> and hence healthy food is not something that 
> Zeolite can provide.  It is another tool in 
> growing food, yes, but let's not lose sight of 
> the long term benefit of promoting biochar.  I 
> might even try mixing some with biochar just to 
> gain the N adsorption benefits.
>
>
> On Fri, Dec 6, 2013 at 2:00 PM, David Murphy 
> <djfmurphy at dodo.com.au 
> <mailto:djfmurphy at dodo.com.au>> wrote:
>
>
>     Greetings Biochar/Gasifier people !
>
>     Everybody & his dog seems to have something
>     to say about
>     charcoal/biochar/biochar-compost mix and so
>     on.Well, here's another dog to bark his piece !
>
>     Biochar is often seen as the great
>     agricultural panacea, but _it is
>     not_.Biochar is a name given to plain
>     ordinary charcoal to indicate that it is
>     destined for use in soil improvement, but
>     basically it is still plain ordinary
>     charcoal, just crushed into smaller
>     particles. In some circumstances it is a
>     very beneficial tool but it is not magical
>     as some proponents seem to think. Just
>     remember, all charcoal has a bio-origin - wood.
>
>     In some Ag. trials in Australiait
>     significantly improved crop volume (treble
>     in one case) but in other instances, nothing
>     worth writing home about.It depends on what
>     the soil is like to start with.
>
>     Charcoal is stable.That means it does not
>     take part in any composting system (which is
>     one primarily of bacterial digestion) and it
>     is indigestible so that when offered as a
>     dietary supplement (in poultry food for
>     example) it passes through the digestive
>     system physically unchanged but will adsorb
>     a high proportion of the gases and some
>     toxins produced in the process of digestion,
>     because that is what charcoal does. For this
>     reason, it's adsorption capability, poultry
>     will generally do better on a little charcoal.
>
>     Quite a few pages could be filled on the
>     beneficial services provided by charcoal as
>     it travels through the digestive system, but
>     it does it as charcoal only and as nothing
>     else.   By all means use a little in the
>     feed, you can only benefit.
>
>     The only physical way to change the nature
>     of charcoal is to burn it.    That is why it
>     lasts in soil (or wherever it is) for
>     thousands of years.
>
>     It has an incredibly high surface area of
>     360 m^2 (varies) and is a mass of minute
>     tunnels which in turn means a very high
>     volume and gases become trapped in these
>     tunnels.It does not _ab_sorb, it _ad_sorbs
>     and traps only.The difference between absorb
>     and adsorb is the same as the difference in
>     liquids of suspension and solution.Clay
>     particles will be in suspension, sugar and
>     salt go into solution.
>
>     Charcoal is useful in an aerobic composting
>     system because again of the entrapment of
>     air in the tunnels.A composting system goes
>     well if there is enough oxygen bearing air
>     available to the bacteria which are a
>     significant part of the system.The more air,
>     the higher the population of bacteria (other
>     factors being OK). The charcoal itself is
>     inoperative, and doesn't change, nor is it a
>     catalyst, it simply provides a service. It
>     will only provide a haven for soil
>     benevolent bacteria if there is something
>     trapped in the tunnels which the bacteria
>     can eat.
>
>     Charcoal is a good adsorber of gas and
>     liquid simply because that is what it
>     does.Zeolite on the other hand, can have an
>     even higher surface are per gram and has a
>     propensity to entrap gases, most
>     particularly nitrogen in it's various forms
>     -- as gas -- ammonium for example -- and in
>     liquids as a salt of NO_3 .It actually draws
>     them in (like a magnet attracts ferric
>     objects) where charcoal just takes it as it
>     comes.    It is easy to see also why
>     charcoal is so effective as a filter, but if
>     you have a solution rich in nitrogen, run it
>     through Zeolite and the N will be removed.
>     Add some to the litter in poultry grower
>     sheds, there will be fewer mortalities
>     because the ammonia which sometimes will
>     asphixiate small birds will be absorbed.
>     Zeolite will take N out of solution,
>     charcoal will not.    There's 40 natural
>     forms of Zeolite and more than another 150
>     can be synthesised, so choose carefully for
>     the one most appropriate to your problem.   
>     Zeolite can perform an amazing range of
>     actions.    Once used and applied as
>     fertiliser, Zeolite subsequently will
>     release the N slowly and remain in the soil
>     as a balancer of N.  Too much, it will take
>     it in (so that the soil pH is not lowered)
>     and release it as required.
>
>     Charcoal's great stuff though, it's easy to
>     make and holds answers to a lot of problems
>     - but not all !
>
>     David Murphy.
>
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>
>
>
> -- 
> Joe Barnas
> Portland, OR
> 541-525-1665
>
>
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