[Stoves] Charcoal as space filler in TLUD reactors

[Paul Anderson]

Dear all,

My earlier comments about charcoal as a space filler in TLUD reactors 
have been placed at my website.

> http://www.drtlud.com/2013/05/01/dr-tlud-shares-some-tlud-stove-operation-tips/
Tom Miles replied that between 7% and 10% of the charcoal could be 
consumed during such a the TLUD batch.   I do not have any data on that 
(not yet), but I raise some questions:

1.  Tom, what percentage of the fuel in your "batch" was biomass and 
what percentage was charcoal?   A very high percentage of the "fuel" as 
charcoal would favor higher percentages of char consumption. If there is 
rather little charcoal as filler, even 10% of consumption might be a 
small price to pay for being able to use skraggly narly  twisted biomass 
that does not fill well into TLUD fuel chambers.   But the ability to 
fill in the excessive space could be very important for biochar makers 
who otherwise could need to do considerably more pre-processing of the 
fuels.   In other words, more "forms" of biomass could be better 
accepted into TLUDs for heat and char production.

2.  Charcoals are not pure carbon.   Some residual volatiles are 
present, with more in the chars that were prepared at lower pyrolysis 
temperatures.   Merely giving a second chance (and more time) for the 
volatiles to become gases could result in a different (better?) form of  
biochar.   If that is the case, then the 10% reduction could be viewed 
as an improvement and not as a loss.

3.  Please note that the addition of charcoal into the TLUD fuel 
chambers was not a topic of discussion.   This is new ground and is an 
open field for everyone and anyone.

WE NEED SOME DATA ON THIS.  I hope that those who are actively producing 
biochar will conduct a few simple experiments to help us be better 
informed.   TLUD users do NOT need to wait for others to get us some 
more data.   Please contribute whatever experiments you can.

And if you want to work together with others, maybe some of you will 
come to one of the Dr TLUD Workshops on Stoves and Biochar this year.

Paul

-- 
Paul S. Anderson, PhD  aka "Dr TLUD"
Email:  psanders at ilstu.edu   Skype: paultlud  Phone: +1-309-452-7072
Website:  www.drtlud.com