[Gasification] Gasification, TLUDs and Biochar
Tom Miles
tmiles at trmiles.com
Tue May 14 23:03:57 CDT 2013
This should be of interest to biochar and gasification enthusiasts.
Thanks Tom Reed.
Tom Miles
-----Original Message-----
From: Stoves [mailto:stoves-bounces at lists.bioenergylists.org] On Behalf Of
Thomas Reed
Sent: Tuesday, May 14, 2013 8:55 PM
To: stoves at lists.bioenergylists.org
Dear Gasologist
We should all distinguish clearly when discussing gasification between
O Total gasification (eg an Imbert gasifier) that converts typically 98% ot
the wood to WoodGas
O Pyrolytic Gasification (TLUD and larger) which primarily gasifies the
cellulose and pyrolyses the lignin to ~20% charcoal
<><><>
The smoke from a TLUD stove will leave a deposit on a cold steel plate. I
was interested in finding out how much "tar" was in the TLUD combustible gas
before it is burned.
I measured the "tar" production from a TLUD stove by putting a 4" galvanized
elbow (wrapped in wetted towels) in the stove, and a 4 ft length of
galvanized pipe followed by another elbow and chimney.
Instead of the tarry deposit I expected, I obtained about 1% of a brown
powdery deposit that was quite dry to the touch.
I now wish I had saved it and analyzed it further. But I suspect a similar
experiment on the Imbert gas would give a much higher "Tar" content,
originating mostly from the lignin.
<><><>
The charcoal resulting from the TLUD is generally a bonus, depending whether
you have a use for it. The temperature of the flaming pyrolysis below the
surface of the TLUD stove is between 500 and 700 C (measured with a Cr-Al
thermocouple). For this reason, the charcoal produced is much more
absorptive than commercial (<450 C) charcoal.
This spring I am doing some planting tests on TLUD charcoal vs commercial
charcoal. I'll report results.
Onward to the future of charcoal...
Tom Reed
Dr. Thomas B Reed
Tombreed2010 at gmail.com
508-353-7841
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