[Gasification] Gasification Digest, Vol 40, Issue 8

David Murphy djfmurphy at dodo.com.au
Sun Dec 8 20:07:27 CST 2013


Geoff, good to see your comment.

I worked out of Singapore for 5 years and even 
built a 150 tpd composting plant there at the 
Sarimbun Recycling Park at Kranji, using green 
waste.    Never encountered rapid assimilation 
like you quote.  As the saying goes, "it's news to 
me!", but I also admit that I never paid 
particular attention to the consumption rate, but 
it was never mentioned but then again rapid 
assimilation might have been seen as normal by the 
locals and not worthy of comment.    I wonder if 
it relates back to the nature of the compost ?

Our product had a C:N ratio of around 20 and was 
pretty stable, but the bacterial count was quite 
high.    Our (live in) workers had their own 
garden beds in which they grew their vegies and 
I'm sure they weren't continually replacing the 
compost.   At the time I was there Biochar was 
virtually unknown so I have no experience of how 
it performs in the tropics.

Thanks for the info. - I'll see what I can find out.

DJM.

On 09/12/2013 9:55 AM, Geoff Thomas wrote:
> *Subject: **Biochar versus Organic Material/ 
> compost*
>
>
> Hi David, your general comments much 
> appreciated, but one point I would like to 
> argue, - sequestering carbon by putting organic 
> material in the ground is fine in the cooler 
> latitudes, it will stay there quite a long time, 
> but in the tropics, no way, - it is gone in 
> months, weeks in some cases.
> Wood chips take longer, but even they are gone 
> in less than a year, and a garden bed in which 
> you put heaps of compost, whilst anything will 
> grow like mad, needs re-composting only months 
> later, - whether you grow anything or not.
> In the Tropics, everything happens much faster, 
> so Biochar seems the better option.
>
> Cheers,
> Geoff Thomas
>
> On 09/12/2013, at 5:00 AM, 
> gasification-request at lists.bioenergylists.org 
> <mailto:gasification-request at lists.bioenergylists.org> 
> wrote:
>
>> Send Gasification mailing list submissions to
>> gasification at lists.bioenergylists.org 
>> <mailto:gasification at lists.bioenergylists.org>
>>
>> To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide 
>> Web, visit
>> http://lists.bioenergylists.org/mailman/listinfo/gasification_lists.bioenergylists.org
>>
>> or, via email, send a message with subject or 
>> body 'help' to
>> gasification-request at lists.bioenergylists.org
>>
>> You can reach the person managing the list at
>> gasification-owner at lists.bioenergylists.org
>>
>> When replying, please edit your Subject line so 
>> it is more specific
>> than "Re: Contents of Gasification digest..."
>>
>>
>> Today's Topics:
>>
>>   1. Re: 
>> [Gasification]Smallsteamsystemsplusgasifiersfor
>>      electricity (Jeff Davis)
>>   2. Re: Biochar et al. (Joe Barnas)
>>   3. Re: Biochar et al. (David Murphy)
>>   4. Re: Biochar et al. (David Murphy)
>>
>>
>> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
>>
>> Message: 1
>> Date: Sat, 07 Dec 2013 15:15:07 -0500
>> From: Jeff Davis <jeffdavis0124 at gmail.com>
>> To: Discussion of biomass pyrolysis and 
>> gasification
>> <gasification at lists.bioenergylists.org>
>> Subject: Re: 
>> [Gasification]Smallsteamsystemsplusgasifiersfor
>> electricity
>> Message-ID: <52A381CB.1070207 at gmail.com>
>> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"; 
>> Format="flowed"
>>
>> Tom,
>>
>>
>> I never had any luck carbonizing grass/weeds 
>> with the grass-a-fire. One
>> would rat hole and the other needed denser 
>> charcoal bed. But Roger
>> Sampson rice husk method showed hope.
>>
>> Working full time makes it unreliable to 
>> harvest dry grass/weeds late in
>> the season at least for this bag of old achy 
>> bones. In other words it's
>> not an easy fuel for a peasant. The baler went 
>> to the sale a bit ago and
>> the mower and rake goes this spring. But I now 
>> have an old and almost
>> functioning flail harvester that should work 
>> for compost production.
>>
>> I hope to start phasing out grasses with 
>> Staghorn Sumac a much more
>> usable fuel.
>>
>>
>> Jeff
>>
>>
>>
>> On 12/02/2013 11:39 PM, Tom Miles wrote:
>>>
>>> Jeff,
>>>
>>> We find that biochar from a downdraft gasifier 
>>> composted 15% v/v with
>>> alfalfa and wood chips makes a very nice 
>>> compost. We have used it as a
>>> substitute for a vermiculite-peat-bark blend. 
>>> Tree seedling response
>>> is generally good. Some species are pH 
>>> sensitive and the alfalfa
>>> pushes the compost pH up so adjustments need 
>>> to be made. In Japan Dr.
>>> Ogawa rinses high pH grass (bamboo) chars to 
>>> reduce soluble alkali
>>> before application to the tree root zone.
>>>
>>> Biochar-peat and biochar--coco peat blends 
>>> work well.
>>>
>>> So if you have a gasifier in a location where 
>>> there is no market for
>>> power you can make heat for greenhouses and a 
>>> char byproduct that you
>>> can compost for use in the greenhouse. We 
>>> estimate that the combined
>>> savings from the heat (propane) and soil 
>>> amendments for a 10 MMBtuh (3
>>> MW) system are about $350,000 per year.
>>>
>>> David Yarrow likes chars from grasses. You can 
>>> make char in your
>>> grass-a-fire.
>>>
>>> Tom
>>>
>>
>> -------------- next part --------------
>> An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
>> URL: 
>> <http://lists.bioenergylists.org/pipermail/gasification_lists.bioenergylists.org/attachments/20131207/83b981bd/attachment-0001.html>
>>
>> ------------------------------
>>
>> Message: 2
>> Date: Sat, 7 Dec 2013 17:33:51 -0800
>> From: Joe Barnas <joe.barnas333 at gmail.com>
>> To: Discussion of biomass pyrolysis and 
>> gasification
>> <gasification at lists.bioenergylists.org>
>> Subject: Re: [Gasification] Biochar et al.
>> Message-ID:
>> <CANweOnyYUHiVhye-g3G2XaXc5EGaVp6oQ_KyJXpCmfVJoMrhsw at mail.gmail.com>
>> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="windows-1252"
>>
>> 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> 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 Australia it 
>>> 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 
>>> m2 (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 NO3 .   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.
>>>
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> Gasification mailing list
>>>
>>> to Send a Message to the list, use the email 
>>> address
>>> Gasification at bioenergylists.org
>>>
>>> to UNSUBSCRIBE or Change your List Settings 
>>> use the web page
>>>
>>> http://lists.bioenergylists.org/mailman/listinfo/gasification_lists.bioenergylists.org
>>>
>>> for more Gasifiers,  News and Information see 
>>> our web site:
>>> http://gasifiers.bioenergylists.org/
>>>
>>>
>>
>>
>> -- 
>> Joe Barnas
>> Portland, OR
>> 541-525-1665
>> -------------- next part --------------
>> An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
>> URL: 
>> <http://lists.bioenergylists.org/pipermail/gasification_lists.bioenergylists.org/attachments/20131207/eab8c32d/attachment-0001.html>
>>
>> ------------------------------
>>
>> Message: 3
>> Date: Sun, 08 Dec 2013 15:15:13 +1100
>> From: David Murphy <djfmurphy at dodo.com.au>
>> To: Discussion of biomass pyrolysis and 
>> gasification
>> <gasification at lists.bioenergylists.org>
>> Subject: Re: [Gasification] Biochar et al.
>> Message-ID: <52A3F251.2080701 at dodo.com.au>
>> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"; 
>> Format="flowed"
>>
>> Joe, you might find it of interest to look up John
>> D. Hamaker on the net.  He was an American
>> Mechanical Engineer who turned his mind (and
>> subsequently devoted his life) to improving soil
>> by the addition of rock dust.    He saw global
>> warming as a precursor to the next ice age.  He
>> saw an ice age as essential refurbishment of the
>> earth's resources.     His argument has a lot of
>> good solid logioc to it and it's worth adding to
>> your store of knowledge on the general topic.
>> If he's proven right, then we're in a lot of
>> trouble !    If you want to study it further I
>> have a DVD I made from a tape he produced I could
>> let you have.
>>
>> Rock dust is a storehouse of minerals, all of
>> which are essential to growth.    First to plants
>> and then to the animals which eat them - including
>> us humans.   Rock dust is insoluble to water but
>> not to enzymes which are produced by soil
>> benevolent bacteria - bacteria which are present
>> in soil with good OM and in compost.     Many
>> readers of this string will be aware of it's
>> benefits when used as fertiliser.
>>
>> Seeking to remedy climate change purported to be
>> caused by anthropomorphic global warming is an
>> extraordinarily complex question.   And seeking to
>> make a contribution by sequestering carbon as
>> charcoal is in itself another complex range of
>> issues.     The charcoal must be first ligneos
>> carbon - wood - and it is probably almost as good
>> to lock up some of that carbon in timber for
>> building houses or making furniture.
>>
>> I'd promote the first step by making the
>> sequestration of the carbon as part of a broader
>> program of building building soil organic matter
>> OM.   This includes animate carbon as well as
>> vegetative.     At least get it up to 5% to plough
>> depth, say 10 inches (250mm) as a minimum, aiming
>> at 20%.   That in itself locks away a lot of
>> carbon, but of a different nature, in that it's
>> available to contribute to plant growth, growth
>> without the need for chemical or artificial
>> fertilisers.
>>
>> Every 1% increase in soil OM (world wide) would be
>> a lockup of around 30 billion tonnes of carbon in
>> a world which generates now (probably) 20 million
>> tonnes annually.    Just for the record, the
>> biggest emitter of CO2, bigger than every other
>> agency combined - every factory, airplane, car
>> truck tractor etc and so on - is the soil of the
>> earth as it respires.    So, the more land we put
>> down under crop to feed the increasing billions,
>> the more CO2 we produce and put into the 
>> atmosphere.
>>
>> So, it's a race against a proven runner - so
>> called mother Nature - and she's a proven stayer.
>>
>> On the other hand, some of the wise owls are now
>> saying it's not CO2 at all, but PCB's causing the
>> damage.   Maybe they're right - who knows _for
>> sure ?_    Nobody I'm aware of despite what they
>> say.    It's all conjecture, some of it soundly
>> based, but still conjecture relying on historical
>> info compiled over a geological blink.
>>
>> Using charcoal and zeolite together is a bit like
>> wearing belt & braces with self-supporting
>> trousers.     It certainly works !
>>
>> The easy and less costly way is to just get the OM
>> into the soil and plant stuff to grow and suck up
>> all the CO2 and N.
>>
>> But whatever you do, don't stop the good work.
>>
>> David Murphy.
>>
>> 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.
>>>
>>>    _______________________________________________
>>>    Gasification mailing list
>>>
>>>    to Send a Message to the list, use the email
>>>    address
>>>    Gasification at bioenergylists.org
>>>    <mailto:Gasification at bioenergylists.org>
>>>
>>>    to UNSUBSCRIBE or Change your List Settings
>>>    use the web page
>>>    http://lists.bioenergylists.org/mailman/listinfo/gasification_lists.bioenergylists.org
>>>
>>>    for more Gasifiers,  News and Information
>>>    see our web site:
>>>    http://gasifiers.bioenergylists.org/
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> -- 
>>> Joe Barnas
>>> Portland, OR
>>> 541-525-1665
>>>
>>>
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> Gasification mailing list
>>>
>>> to Send a Message to the list, use the email 
>>> address
>>> Gasification at bioenergylists.org
>>>
>>> to UNSUBSCRIBE or Change your List Settings 
>>> use the web page
>>> http://lists.bioenergylists.org/mailman/listinfo/gasification_lists.bioenergylists.org
>>>
>>> for more Gasifiers,  News and Information see 
>>> our web site:
>>> http://gasifiers.bioenergylists.org/
>>
>> -------------- next part --------------
>> An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
>> URL: 
>> <http://lists.bioenergylists.org/pipermail/gasification_lists.bioenergylists.org/attachments/20131208/4433d644/attachment-0001.html>
>>
>> ------------------------------
>>
>> Message: 4
>> Date: Sun, 08 Dec 2013 18:45:24 +1100
>> From: David Murphy <djfmurphy at dodo.com.au>
>> To: Discussion of biomass pyrolysis and 
>> gasification
>> <gasification at lists.bioenergylists.org>
>> Subject: Re: [Gasification] Biochar et al.
>> Message-ID: <52A42394.5010509 at dodo.com.au>
>> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"; 
>> Format="flowed"
>>
>> 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.
>>>
>>>    _______________________________________________
>>>    Gasification mailing list
>>>
>>>    to Send a Message to the list, use the email
>>>    address
>>>    Gasification at bioenergylists.org
>>>    <mailto:Gasification at bioenergylists.org>
>>>
>>>    to UNSUBSCRIBE or Change your List Settings
>>>    use the web page
>>>    http://lists.bioenergylists.org/mailman/listinfo/gasification_lists.bioenergylists.org
>>>
>>>    for more Gasifiers,  News and Information
>>>    see our web site:
>>>    http://gasifiers.bioenergylists.org/
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> -- 
>>> Joe Barnas
>>> Portland, OR
>>> 541-525-1665
>>>
>>>
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> Gasification mailing list
>>>
>>> to Send a Message to the list, use the email 
>>> address
>>> Gasification at bioenergylists.org
>>>
>>> to UNSUBSCRIBE or Change your List Settings 
>>> use the web page
>>> http://lists.bioenergylists.org/mailman/listinfo/gasification_lists.bioenergylists.org
>>>
>>> for more Gasifiers,  News and Information see 
>>> our web site:
>>> http://gasifiers.bioenergylists.org/
>>
>> -------------- next part --------------
>> An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
>> URL: 
>> <http://lists.bioenergylists.org/pipermail/gasification_lists.bioenergylists.org/attachments/20131208/21827e0d/attachment-0001.html>
>>
>> ------------------------------
>>
>> Subject: Digest Footer
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> Gasification mailing list
>>
>> to Send a Message to the list, use the email 
>> address
>> Gasification at bioenergylists.org
>>
>> to UNSUBSCRIBE or Change your List Settings use 
>> the web page
>> http://lists.bioenergylists.org/mailman/listinfo/gasification_lists.bioenergylists.org
>>
>> for more Gasifiers,  News and Information see 
>> our web site:
>> http://gasifiers.bioenergylists.org/
>>
>>
>>
>> ------------------------------
>>
>> End of Gasification Digest, Vol 40, Issue 8
>> *******************************************
>>
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Gasification mailing list
>
> to Send a Message to the list, use the email address
> Gasification at bioenergylists.org
>
> to UNSUBSCRIBE or Change your List Settings use the web page
> http://lists.bioenergylists.org/mailman/listinfo/gasification_lists.bioenergylists.org
>
> for more Gasifiers,  News and Information see our web site:
> http://gasifiers.bioenergylists.org/

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.bioenergylists.org/pipermail/gasification_lists.bioenergylists.org/attachments/20131209/ba1f0572/attachment.html>


More information about the Gasification mailing list