[Stoves] material processing for briquettes few tips ontechnique

Richard Stanley rstanley at legacyfound.org
Tue Aug 7 11:50:02 CDT 2012


Am all ears Kevin & Andrew. 

Clearly its not hydrated lime but rather directly powdered rock lime we are seeing.

How would either variety, Hydrated or not effects the removal of shells off the corn kernels --as done there in large 50 - 75 liter sized vats of hot water is my question.  



The efficient management of  the partial decomposition of selected agricultural  residues makes or breaks a production activity from an economic standpoint. In lieu of sophisticated machinery, it often comes down to finding an efficient and locally managed method to accelerate the breakdown of the plant material, preserving its fiber content while dissociating it from the matrix material all left-still -, in a combustible state. 

Its particularly, the loosened flexible ganglia of fibers, recombined in a water slurry of other plant and granular combustibles, forms  the kind of  tight, well infilled and relatively hot briquette that sells well,  in the local market. 

If they don't have the fibers at work they can resort to paper if they have it but paper is never going to burn like selected natural plant material which they are familiar with and are best assured to be able to  utilise on a sustainable basis. 

When it comes to practical briquetting based on traditional skills, there is more collective wisdom in this truck than you can imagine. Its through these incredible folks, and about 300 more, that the production trainers for the region will soon emerge. 



Am very busy learning from both ends of the candle here ! 
Your information could not be more timely: 

Thanks again, Kevin and Andrew. 

Richard Stanley
www.legacyfound.org 
===========

 On Aug 7, 2012, at 6:42 AM, Kevin wrote:

Dear Andrew

Very interesting possible explanation for why "spent agricultural lime" helps with the anaerobic retting process!

While Ca(OH)2, or "Hydrated lime" can have a pH as high as  about 12.5, and is indeed very caustic, CaCO3 or "Limestone", "agriculture lime, "land lime", has a pH in the range of about 8, which is not very caustic at all

Is there perhaps another possibility, that being that a marginal change in alkalinity favours growth of different bacteria?

More specifically, is it perhaps the minor change in pH is "shifting the bug balance", rather than making local chemistry harsher? In other words, are the "retting fungus forms" more favoured with slightly higher pH, while the fungus forms that consume cellulose are repressed?

Best wishes,

Kevin



----- Original Message ----- From: <ajheggie at gmail.com>
To: "Discussion of biomass cooking stoves" <stoves at lists.bioenergylists.org>
Sent: Saturday, August 04, 2012 2:04 PM
Subject: Re: [Stoves] material processing for briquettes few tips ontechnique


> On Fri, 3 Aug 2012 10:32:14 -0700, Richard Stanley wrote:
> 
>> If processed correctly,  natural fibers will flex and then tend to interlock once blended with other materials in a water slurry.
>> One does not  achieve this by simple chopping or even direct use of the fiber without some form of softening (thru partial decompsition, in a hot humid anerobic environment,  (under such as a black plastic bag), or as we are learning from our Mayan colleagues in Guatemala,  use of agricultural lime (which is traditionally discarded after its use in hot water to soften and de-shell their corn kernals).
> 
> As always I find your posts on briquetting educational.
> 
> Alkalis, lime being calcium hydroxide, dissolve lignin and I expect
> this is what the bugs do in retting fibres out of the stem
> (simplistically wood rotting fungi can be classified into brown, white
> and soft rots, the white rots attack lignin and leave the cellulose,
> brown eat the cellulose and soft rots invade all the cells), it's
> lignin that hold all the stringy fibres together. So I can see how
> lime would separate out the fibres.
> 
> Your observation that the bugs work better in anaerobic conditions
> may be that this is what favours a white rot. Flax sheaves where laid
> in a water filled ditch to ret.
> 
> I may have missed something in Rok's post: Rok mentions 16cms diameter
> briquettes with a 5 cms hole, I take it it is the length he is varying
> between 3-12 cms and favouring a length of between 5 and 7cms?
> 
> AJH
> 
> 
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