[Stoves] Char from coir Re: Biochar Inquiry

Tue Apr 15 09:15:20 CDT 2014

Dear Stovers and Biochar,

In 1999 or there about, I had the opportunity to work on the development of
charcoal production from coconut waste in Mombasa Kenya. We used coconut
husks, coir was very expensive and was being used to make some products like
door marts and such.

I developed a process for producing charcoal from coconut husks and also
briquetting them. I developed a retort that was running on some of the
coconut husks to generate heat that is then used to heat the other coconut
husks for charcoal production. The retort attained very high temperatures. 

I even wrote a report on the process.

Thank you,

Musungu Wycliffe.

From: Stoves [mailto:stoves-bounces at lists.bioenergylists.org] On Behalf Of
Paul Anderson
Sent: 15 April 2014 16:33
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.com

On 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
<http://kenyacharcoal.blogspot.com/2013/02/coconut-charcoal.html>  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

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