[Gasification] [biochar] Pine char gasification

Thu Dec 26 20:43:26 CST 2013

Check out Leonard Clarks 1953 classic, "The rivers Ran East" about his exploration down the Andes and into Amazonia post WWII. Es verdad!

Tom, when you visited did they actually, let you dig around in these midden-pits, er, uh, I mean precolonial fertility factories, which we also refer to as archeological relics? That must make it a little tough for the next group of "serious" investigators to do their work, yes. Or, is the work completed and the jury in?

Best, Mark

-----Original Message-----
From: Gasification [mailto:gasification-bounces at lists.bioenergylists.org] On Behalf Of Tom Miles
Sent: Thursday, December 26, 2013 5:36 PM
To: 'Discussion of biomass pyrolysis and gasification'; 'Jeff Davis'
Subject: Re: [Gasification] [biochar] Pine char gasification

Kevin,

Creative. We didn’t see anything like what you are imagining at the sites that we visited. We hiked well back from the river to an area of seasonal flooding. We saw the usual dry and fine mud that would be muck if wet but it wasn’t very weathered and water flows back to the river leaving dry creeks. 

The terra preta sites that we visited were all within about 300 feet from the river bank. The bank was 45 feet high at those sites. The TP sites were built on very heavy clay ferrosol benches that were relatively narrow. The distribution of the TP in those well documented sites was very much as described by Schmidt in his summary and other documents. We went into pits dug into three variations of tp.  

No doubt there are oxbows on the thousands of miles up the many branches and tributaries of the Amazon. If you journey off in pursuit of the black goop to satisfy your speculation no doubt your wanderings will be much like those described in "The Lost City of Z". Good luck. 

Tom        

-----Original Message-----
From: Gasification [mailto:gasification-bounces at lists.bioenergylists.org] On Behalf Of Kevin C
Sent: Thursday, December 26, 2013 4:39 PM
To: Discussion of biomass pyrolysis and gasification; Jeff Davis
Subject: Re: [Gasification] [biochar] Pine char gasification

Dear Jeff

Quoting Jeff Davis <jeffdavis0124 at gmail.com>:

> Hi Kevin,
>
>
> On 12/26/2013 06:37 AM, Kevin C wrote:
>> # KC: The possibility of using the nutritious ``black goop`` from the 
>> bottom of the Òxbow Lakes that are very common along the Amazon River 
>> has been suggested as a source of fertilizing nutrients for Terra 
>> Preta on this list in the past, and the concept was received with 
>> extreme disinterest. I would suggest that the ``black goop``was made 
>> by the `LTAHTC Process``, ie, the ``Low Temperature Anaerobic 
>> HydroThermal Carbon Process``
>
> I could not find this term "LTAHTC", is this new?

# This is a "Chisholm Original" that I just created. Basically, it is the kind of process that occurs when vegetative matter such as leaves, grasses and vegetative matter sink to the bottom of a pond and decompose, in an anaerobic process, liberating methane, and leaving behind a smelly "black goop."

It kind of sounds
> like the "black goop" that I made from switch grass named Fuelage.  
> Maybe I need to add the chopped grass into a pond and later scoop it 
> out?

# Yes, indeed!! That is exactly it. Consider an oxbow lake, on the Amazon River. It would be an excellent place for a Community to raise Tilapia, that feed on algae. All the Amazonians would have to do is throw in manure, to cause algae blooms, and they would get a large growth of Tilapia fish, which they could easily harvest. The fish waste would be high in phosphate and nitrate content, and that would perpetuate algae blooms, that are great for growing Tilapia, in "Green Water Aquaculture." If they did not harvest enough fish, and if the weather got too hot, reducing the water oxygen content, the remaining fish would suffocate. However, the "black goop" on the bottom of the Oxbow Lake, would be highly nutritious as a "fertilizer". It could easily be "dredged" by buckets from a canoe, and be taken ashore, for spreading on their nearby fields. That would explain the presence of lots of fish bones.
>
> Or maybe your thinking of this:
> <http://www.ava-co2.com/web/pages/en/technology/hydrothermal-carboniza
> tion.php>

# As I understand it, this process is somewhat different from the "LTAHTC" process, in that it seems to go further down the process road, stripping more H and O off the original biomass, to produce a product higher in Carbon, and lower in H, and O, than would be the "black goop" produced in a swamp situation.

# It would be very interesting indeed to see comparative growth tests using the LTAHTC, AVA-CO2, and "Conventional Biochar" products.

Best wishes,

Kevin
>
>
>
> Jeff
>
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