[Gasification] washing charcoal

[Anand Karve]

Dear Tom,
we make our charcoal from sugarcane leaves left behind in the field
after harvest of sugarcane.  We use the TLUD process for charring the
leaves. Because the raw material is grassy, the silica content in the
char is very high, almost 40% and the calorific value of the charcoal
is correspondingly low. We shall certainly attempt to wash the char
powder, but it is the rainly season just now and getting dry biomass
for charring is not possible. We shall have to wait till the beginning
of November, when they start harvesting sugarcane. I thought that in
the meanwhile I might collect information on this issue.
Yours
A.D.Karve
On 9/21/14, Thomas Reed <tombreed2010 at gmail.com> wrote:
> Dear Drs Karve and Priyadarshina
>
> Good question!  Good Questions are as important as good answers.Some of the
> mineral content is probably part of the lattice, and non removable.  Other
> is left over from the CHARING process and will wash away.
>
> Why not perform an experiment to see how much is "lattice mineral" and how
> much dissolves out (on boiling?)
>
> <><><>
>
> To really nail this question, it is important to define your starting
> charcoal.  There are two very different types.  "Cowboy charcoal" is made by
> heating wood to ~ 300 C, where self heating takes over and reaches 400-450C,
> depending on heat losses.
>
> Toplit Updraft (TLUD) charcoal is made by burning out the cellulose between
> 500 and 600 C.  Much cleaner charcoal.
>
> Looking forward to your results,
>
> Tom Reed
>
> Thomas B Reed
> 280 Hardwick Rd
> Barre, Ma 01005
> 508-353-7841
>
>> On Sep 19, 2014, at 8:54 PM, Anand Karve <adkarve at gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>> Dear List,
>> Would washing with water reduce the ash content of charcoal and
>> increase its calorific value? I undeerstand that it is done in the
>> case of mineral coal.
>> Yours
>> A.D.Karve
>> --
>> ***
>> Dr. A.D. Karve
>> Trustee & Founder President, Appropriate Rural Technology Institute
>> (ARTI)
>>
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-- 
***
Dr. A.D. Karve
Trustee & Founder President, Appropriate Rural Technology Institute (ARTI)