[Stoves] Small Scale Charcoal/Ash Screening

Mon Jan 1 18:19:24 CST 2018

Hello Ray and Crispin,

Thanks for the responses.  

Rinsing and drying the charcoal in this climate (Northern Illinois) is not
an option for me. (-15F tonight).   I usually just shake the ashes and fines
on the garden plants and vegetable garden.  My soil is acid, so the wood ash
helps neutralize the pH.  The screened charcoal is relatively free from
ashes.

The coals (some hot) from the wood stove are transferred into a metal bucket
and an air tight lid is placed on the bucket.  The lidded bucket is set
outside for a few hours and allowed to cool down.  When the outside of the
bucket is cold to the touch, I’ll use the cone to separate the materials.
I did have a surprise one screening where a hot coal got into my large
charcoal stash.  The coal ignited the 50lbs. of charcoal in the covered
metal waste can.  There was no way to put out the charcoal by dousing it
with small amounts of water.  I had to fill the whole waste can with water
to extinguish the charcoal.  From then on I always pour the screened
charcoal into a smaller air tight receptacle first and let it sit for a day.

A steel strip around the top of the cone with handles would be a nice touch.
I just use work gloves to hold the top of the cone.  It’s held up well after
several years of use.

Jim T.

From: Stoves [mailto:stoves-bounces at lists.bioenergylists.org] On Behalf Of
Crispin Pemberton-Pigott
Sent: Monday, January 01, 2018 2:39 PM
To: Discussion of biomass cooking stoves <stoves at lists.bioenergylists.org>
Subject: Re: [Stoves] Small Scale Charcoal/Ash Screening

Dear Jim T

Do you do this when it is still hot? 

How do you hold the cone? Gloves? Handles?

Thanks for inspiration

Crispin

I burn wood for heating the house using an EPA certified fireplace insert.
The wood species is mostly ash, and hardwoods.  The burning wood rests on an
insulated firebrick bed located in the bottom of the stove.  After the stove
has cooled overnight, there is a mix of approximately 2/3 ashes to 1/3
charcoal left.  

I found that an easy way to screen the ashes from the charcoal is by using a
cylindrical mesh cone.  The mesh material is ¼” galvanized hardware cloth.
The top opening measures 12” in diameter, the length is 24” which tapers to
a closed point on the bottom.  The cone can be easily made by drawing a
template onto the flat wire mesh, cutting out the pattern, and rolling it
into a cone shape.  I used bent steel wire pieces to clip the edges
together.

The cone is filled 2/3 with the ash/charcoal mixture.  Using one hand on
each side of the cone top, the cone is shaken vertically until all of the
ash and charcoal fines fall through the screen.  (Usually takes about 30
seconds)  The remaining screened charcoal  is dumped from the cone into a
fireproof sealed charcoal receptacle. (Just in case there are any live coals
in the mix).  The charcoal is dry and ready for use.

This simple method works well.  I have yielded several hundred pounds of
charcoal per heating season.  The char is good value and smokeless, used for
cooking and grilling.   The charcoal pieces are usually 1” or less in size,
so a ¼” stainless steel mesh is used as a fire grate inside the charcoal
stoves and grills that are used for cooking. 

I would be interested to hear how others process their stove “tailings” 
..

Jim T.

____________________________________________________________

<https://eur01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fthirdparty
offers.juno.com%2FTGL3132%2F5a4a4db7198b74db66fb0st03duc&data=02%7C01%7C%7Cb
8e050a0f5ea4c44129608d551293515%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7
C636504159782834639&sdata=JLb4dunv09Gi6aVqFZJaWEPqvZpXWqOnGREFgJglBNQ%3D&res
erved=0> We Say Goodbye To Meryl Streep
risingstarnewspaper.com

<https://eur01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fthirdparty
offers.juno.com%2FTGL3132%2F5a4a4db7198b74db66fb0st03duc&data=02%7C01%7C%7Cb
8e050a0f5ea4c44129608d551293515%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7
C636504159782834639&sdata=JLb4dunv09Gi6aVqFZJaWEPqvZpXWqOnGREFgJglBNQ%3D&res
erved=0>
http://thirdpartyoffers.juno.com/TGL3132/5a4a4db7198b74db66fb0st03duc

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.bioenergylists.org/pipermail/stoves_lists.bioenergylists.org/attachments/20180101/792c8c2d/attachment.html>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: ~WRD000.jpg
Type: image/jpeg
Size: 823 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://lists.bioenergylists.org/pipermail/stoves_lists.bioenergylists.org/attachments/20180101/792c8c2d/attachment.jpg>