[Stoves] Drawing down the dung pile

[frank]

Stovers,

I have washed a lot of dung and compost. We like to have it clean : ) 
When doing weed seed testing we wash out all the salts and soluble 
organics that, if remained, can make the mix go anaerobic. We wash until 
the electrical conductivity is less than 1 mmhos/cm. Then place the mud 
on a bed of sand to let drain and air both above and below. Then add 
seeds to one corner to make sure if there were weed seeds they have the 
conditions to grow.

The washing is done by the following: Place dung in a five gallon 
bucket., fill with water and mix. Prepare a smaller plastic bucket by 
cutting out the bottom , duct tape a fine mesh screen over the bottom. 
With up-N-down motion move the smaller bucked down through the muddy 
water. The up-N-down keeps the screen clean. The water that goes into 
the small bucket is removed by a smaller bucket until as much of the 
water as possible is removed. Then repeat the process until the water is 
clear or the EC is below one mmhos/cm.

Frank





Kevin wrote:

> Dear Crispin
> Years and years ago, I started a thread about using dung fuels and 
> interest in it was very conspicuous by its absence. From what I can 
> understand, dung fuels are about the worst possible fuel, "as is", 
> because of moisture and chlorides. Moisture makes for difficult 
> burning, and chlorides make dioxins. Also, the very people who are so 
> desperate as to need to burn dung for fuels are usually the same 
> people who are equivalently desperate for fertilizer. I understand 
> also that blindness is very common with Indian Women who have been 
> using dung fuels.
> I advocated washing the dung, to extract the solubles, and then using 
> the water extract as a liquid fertilizer. Then dry the residue, for 
> use as a fuel. It should then be a superior fuel to wood, in that it 
> would have a higher percentage of lignin, which has a higher heating 
> value per pound than cellulostic biomass.
> Leaching the solubles from the "raw dung" should remove the chlorides, 
> and should virtually eliminate the creation of dioxins, while at the 
> same time, produce an excellent fertilizer solution, containing Ca, P, 
> K, and organics beneficial to plant growth.... hormones, proteins, and 
> nitrogen compounds.
> I'd be glad to work with you, in developing a "dung washing system.". 
> I think it could help with both fuel and fertilizer needs
> Best wishes,
> Kevin Chisholm, aka "Doctor Dung." :-)
>
>     ----- Original Message -----
>     *From:* Crispin Pemberton-Pigott <mailto:crispinpigott at gmail.com>
>     *To:* Stoves <mailto:stoves at lists.bioenergylists.org>
>     *Sent:* Monday, December 06, 2010 12:47 PM
>     *Subject:* [Stoves] Drawing down the dung pile
>
>     Dear Burners of Recycled Biomass
>
>     We took delivery today of three (barely) steaming bags of goat and
>     cattle dung with a view to starting to look for ways to burn it
>     cleanly in space heating stoves.
>
>     If there is interest from anyone in cooperating (by making stoves
>     and trying them) we should start a thread here, preferably.
>
>     I have already heard from a couple of people and Prof Lodoysamba
>     is particularly interested. He says there are large amounts of
>     goat dung which is normally not burned by nomads, though cattle
>     dung is. Probably the reason is that no one has made a stove tuned
>     to consume Capra Crap. Well, let’s put that omission behind us!
>
>     We can call it the Crapra Stove Project – an international effort
>     to turn steaming pellets into steaming pullets.
>
>     The focus will be on North Asia because that seems to be where the
>     current interest is.
>
>     Regards
>
>     Crispin
>
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-- 
Frank Shields
Soil Control Lab
42 Hangar way
Watsonville, CA  95076
(831) 724-5422 tel
(831) 724-3188 fax
frank at compostlab.com
www.compostlab.com