[Stoves] Char from coir Re: Biochar Inquiry

[Michael N Trevor]

From: Paul Anderson 
Sent: Tuesday, April 15, 2014 6:33 AM
To: lhelferty at biochar.ca ; teddy kinyanjui 
Cc: biochar at yahoogroups.com ; Ted Wysocki ; Johnathon Caguiat ; Discussion of biomass cooking stoves 
Subject: [Stoves] Char from coir Re: Biochar Inquiry

Stovers and Biochar folks,

Our thanks to Teddy in Kenya for his comments below sent to Lloyd H. and a few others, and especially for the link to his blogspot (well worth seeing).   It shows that he has successful creation of char from coir (coconut husk).   But do note that his kiln is ignited at the bottom, and then has the coir put on top.   That clearly seems to work, and I see that as mainly a "retort" style of pyrolysis, with the heat (and no oxygen) rising from the bottom to pyrolyze the coir.   So, if you are only trying to make char (or biochar) from coir, consider Teddy's method.   Maybe Trevor can replicate this in the Marshall Islands, or others do it wherever possible.   Considering the tons and tons of coir around for free, and the need for biochar for soil improvement in the "coconut-belt" of the world, this could be quite significant.

Clearly it is not TLUD processing, so the question still remains if TLUD pyrolytic methods and temperatures can sustain the secondary flame for cooking and yield char.

Paul

Doc  /  Dr TLUD  /  Prof. Paul S. Anderson, PhD  
Email:  psanders at ilstu.edu   
Skype: paultlud      Phone: +1-309-452-7072
Website:  www.drtlud.comOn 2014-04-15 6:16 AM, teddy kinyanjui wrote:

    Dear John and Llyod 

    I seem to have received this by mistake perhaps? I make charcoal for cooking food, not so much growing it. 

    But as you raise the questions of charcoal for filters - I have certainly (anecdotally) noticed that there is a huge differance in various charcoals - even from the same plant. I.e coconuts - the nut becomes a hard shiney charcoal with few pours and the coir becomes very  sponge like and does not burn so well. Please see http://kenyacharcoal.blogspot.com/2013/02/coconut-charcoal.html for some photos.

    I hope this is of interest. 

    Teddy  



----------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Date: Mon, 14 Apr 2014 19:40:45 -0400
    From: lhelferty at sympatico.ca
    To: johnathon.caguiat







--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
_______________________________________________
Stoves mailing list

to Send a Message to the list, use the email address
stoves at lists.bioenergylists.org

to UNSUBSCRIBE or Change your List Settings use the web page
http://lists.bioenergylists.org/mailman/listinfo/stoves_lists.bioenergylists.org

for more Biomass Cooking Stoves,  News and Information see our web site:
http://stoves.bioenergylists.org/

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.bioenergylists.org/pipermail/stoves_lists.bioenergylists.org/attachments/20140416/c981f1e2/attachment.html>