[Gasification] Looking for contact info for Jeff Davis

Thu Jul 18 22:38:53 CDT 2013

Dear Lori and Ray

Whoops! I replied too quickly... I was looking more at the end use of the 
char, rather than the suitability of chips for char making.

Ray is correct... chips are very different from stickwood for char making. I 
was wrong in suggesting that the Gilmore Char maker would be good for 
charring chips without modification.

The problem is that there is a very high pressure drop through chips, 
compared to stickwood. With chips:
1: The chips would have to be dried first
and
2: A forced draft system would be required.

Firstly, Lori would need a system for drying the chips. Secondly, the basic 
Gilmore char maker would have to be modified to convert it to a "forced 
draft char maker." This could be accomplished with a circle of screen, 1/4 
to 3/8" square openings, mounted 4" to 6" above the bottom of the barrel. An 
external fan would be connected to the underside of the screen, blowing into 
the space above the barrel end. The remainder of the Gilmore Char maker 
would be the same. At the end of the burn, the fan would be disconnected, 
and a pipe cap would be screwed on at the air inlet connection, to prevent 
air ingress.

Sorry about responding too quickly. :-(

Best wishes,

Kevin
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Ray Menke" <ray.menke at gmail.com>
To: "Discussion of biomass pyrolysis and gasification" 
<gasification at lists.bioenergylists.org>
Sent: Thursday, July 18, 2013 5:02 PM
Subject: Re: [Gasification] Looking for contact info for Jeff Davis

> Lori, I looked at your answers to Kevin's questions.  I am assuming
> that wood CHIPS are your intended source for making biochar.  I had
> six dump truck loads of chips delivered to my composting area, and
> immediately mixed them with cow manure, grass clippings, chicken and
> duck manure, etc, and started two giant compost piles.  The green
> chips as delivered by the road crews will not be usable in gasifiers
> or biochar retorts until they are bone dry, and even then, I never was
> able to add more than a couple of 5 gallon plastic buckets of them to
> the retort to fill in some of the gaps.  After several years, when you
> screen the compost, there will be some chips and shards of wood that,
> after they are dried, can be added to your retort.  Due to years of
> drought, we have lots of dead trees that have been falling down or
> have been blown over.  I use those for the charcoal making process,
> and can include heavy duty stalks from other plants such as rattlebox,
> corn, okra, and lambsquarters, and even the stalks from thistles.  Any
> wood you place in a TLUD device, whether it be a cookstove or a 55
> gallon retort must be really dry.  (No green wood!)  I sometimes use
> knots, "Y's" or other non-splittable wood in the retort, but it
> usually needs to be run through twice.  It is possible to place
> another retort in the afterburner (or chimney) so it can utilize the
> heat from the lower retort.  Once you start the retort, and if you see
> flames shooting out of the top barrel, you might get away with adding
> a shovel or two of chips, but too many and you will have a real smoke
> maker.  I try to make no smoke..
> You will need to make some drying racks.  I use several large screens
> up on saw horses.  The fuel must be dry.
>
> On Thu, Jul 18, 2013 at 2:32 PM, Lori Heath <rootconnection at gmail.com> 
> wrote:
>> Thank you Ray!
>>
>> Lori
>>
>>
>> On Thu, Jul 18, 2013 at 4:51 PM, Ray Menke <ray.menke at gmail.com> wrote:
>>>
>>> Lori,
>>> Here is a link to a 36 page paper discussing biochars.
>>>
>>> <http://www.biochar-international.org/sites/default/files/All-Biochars--Version2--Oct2009.pdf>
>>> In my own personal garden, the use of biochar mixed into my compost
>>> has greatly increased the yield of onions, peppers, and potatoes, but
>>> seems to have stunted my okra and blackberries.  (The grass around the
>>> biochar making area is extremely lush, and my cows love it..)  I know
>>> blackberries like a pH around 5.5, and the ash that I added to the
>>> compost raised that pH.  Ray
>>>
>>> On Thu, Jul 18, 2013 at 2:03 PM, Lori Heath <rootconnection at gmail.com>
>>> wrote:
>>> > Thanks for posting this, Erin. Do you know if the biochar produced by
>>> > this
>>> > method is suitable for biochar?
>>> >
>>> > Lori
>>> >
>>> >
>>> > On Thu, Jul 18, 2013 at 4:01 PM, Erin Rasmussen <erin at trmiles.com>
>>> > wrote:
>>> >>
>>> >> Hi All,
>>> >>
>>> >>
>>> >>
>>> >> I've assembled the Gary Gilmore's Charcoal making instructions from
>>> >> Jeff
>>> >> along with Mr. Gilmore's youtube videos and posted them on the 
>>> >> biochar
>>> >> site
>>> >> for anyone that's interested.
>>> >>
>>> >>
>>> >>
>>> >> The Gary Gilmore Charcoal Drum
>>> >>
>>> >> http://www.biochar.bioenergylists.org/Gilmore-Charcoal-Drum
>>> >>
>>> >>
>>> >>
>>> >> He does a great job of describing a top lit updraft charcoal making
>>> >> technique using a couple of steel drums and controlling airflow by
>>> >> selectively piling dirt up to block off the air holes.
>>> >>
>>> >>
>>> >>
>>> >> Kind regards,
>>> >>
>>> >>
>>> >>
>>> >> Erin Rasmussen
>>> >>
>>> >>
>>> >>
>>> >> TR Miles Technical Consultants Inc.   http://www.trmiles.com/
>>> >>
>>> >> and BioEnergy Discussion Lists   http://www.bioenergylists.org/
>>> >>
>>> >> erin at trmiles.com
>>> >>
>>> >>
>>> >>
>>> >>
>>> >>
>>> >>
>>> >>
>>> >>
>>> >>
>>> >>
>>> >>
>>> >> From: Gasification
>>> >> [mailto:gasification-bounces at lists.bioenergylists.org]
>>> >> On Behalf Of Jeffrey Davis
>>> >> Sent: Thursday, July 18, 2013 10:43 AM
>>> >>
>>> >>
>>> >> To: Discussion of biomass pyrolysis and gasification
>>> >> Subject: Re: [Gasification] Looking for contact info for Jeff Davis
>>> >>
>>> >>
>>> >>
>>> >> I think you wanted Gary's document that has been sent to you but 
>>> >> maybe
>>> >> your thinking of the gasifier that produced charcoal.
>>> >>
>>> >> I have no idea if any of these designs will produce biochar but they
>>> >> will
>>> >> produce charcoal.
>>> >>
>>> >>
>>> >> Jeff
>>> >>
>>> >> ________________________________
>>> >>
>>> >> From: "Lori Heath" <rootconnection at gmail.com>
>>> >> To: "Discussion of biomass pyrolysis and gasification"
>>> >> <gasification at lists.bioenergylists.org>
>>> >> Sent: Thursday, July 18, 2013 1:33:47 PM
>>> >> Subject: Re: [Gasification] Looking for contact info for Jeff Davis
>>> >>
>>> >> Hello there Jeff,
>>> >>
>>> >> Thanks for your reply...Could you tell me if the design that you had
>>> >> for a
>>> >> biochar retort at your puffergas site is available elsewhere online?
>>> >>
>>> >> All the best,
>>> >> Lori Heath
>>> >>
>>> >>
>>> >>
>>> >> On Thu, Jul 18, 2013 at 2:59 PM, Jeffrey Davis <jeff0124 at hughes.net>
>>> >> wrote:
>>> >>
>>> >> Copy sent to Lori.
>>> >>
>>> >> Jeff
>>> >>
>>> >> ________________________________
>>> >>
>>> >> From: "Tom Miles" <tmiles at trmiles.com>
>>> >> To: "Discussion of biomass pyrolysis and gasification"
>>> >> <gasification at lists.bioenergylists.org>
>>> >> Sent: Thursday, July 18, 2013 10:46:44 AM
>>> >> Subject: Re: [Gasification] Looking for contact info for Jeff Davis
>>> >>
>>> >>
>>> >>
>>> >> Lori,
>>> >>
>>> >>
>>> >>
>>> >> Jeff Davis closed his puffergas website and we transferred much of 
>>> >> his
>>> >> information to the bioenergylists website. We’ll check to see if we
>>> >> have
>>> >> that file online.
>>> >>
>>> >>
>>> >>
>>> >> Thnks
>>> >>
>>> >>
>>> >>
>>> >> Tom Miles
>>> >>
>>> >> Owner
>>> >>
>>> >> Bioenergylists.org
>>> >>
>>> >> tmiles at trmiles.com
>>> >>
>>> >> www.gasifiers.bioenergylists.org
>>> >>
>>> >>
>>> >>
>>> >>
>>> >>
>>> >> From: Gasification
>>> >> [mailto:gasification-bounces at lists.bioenergylists.org]
>>> >> On Behalf Of Lori Heath
>>> >> Sent: Thursday, July 18, 2013 5:56 AM
>>> >> To: gasification at lists.bioenergylists.org
>>> >> Subject: [Gasification] Looking for contact info for Jeff Davis
>>> >>
>>> >>
>>> >>
>>> >> Hello,
>>> >>
>>> >> I am looking for the biochar retort design that used to be featured 
>>> >> at
>>> >> the
>>> >> following website address...
>>> >>
>>> >> http://www.puffergas.com/historic/rules/rules.html
>>> >>
>>> >> However, now when I click on this address, it redirects to Jeff 
>>> >> Davis's
>>> >> site on Bioenergy Lists.
>>> >>
>>> >> Does anyone know where I could find the design I am looking for, 
>>> >> and/or
>>> >> the contact information for the designer?
>>> >>
>>> >> Any help you could provide would be greatly appreciated.
>>> >>
>>> >> Best regards,
>>> >> Lori Heath
>>> >>
>>> >> St. John's, Newfoundland, Canada
>>> >>
>>> >>
>>> >>
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>>> >>
>>> >>
>>> >>
>>> >>
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>>> >
>>> >
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>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> --
>>> Ray  Menke
>>>
>>> _______________________________________________
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>>
>>
>>
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>
>
>
> -- 
> Ray  Menke
>
> _______________________________________________
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