[Stoves] Char from Corn cobs ??

Wed Jan 22 09:39:29 CST 2020

Getting back to Ron's original post, we are going to test pulling each cob
out of a three-stone cookstove when the fire on the cob goes out.

Cob charcoal is inferior to wood charcoal and more brittle.  But when a
cook/producer is seller to her neighbor, they will find a price that
reflects that inferiority.

When the cob char is used as biochar, the brittleness may be a positive.
It should be easier to crush.

Kevin

On Tue, Jan 21, 2020 at 11:00 PM Carlo Figà Talamanca <carloft at gmail.com>
wrote:

> Dear all,
> despite the very low density of corncob-char, it has a very high fixed
> carbon content (around 80% according to our lab analysis and charred in our
> TLUD large scale kilns at around 800-1,000 C.).
>
> At OTAGO in Cambodia we have produced high compressed corncob
> char-briquettes, which burn over 3 hours, are very strong (they don't
> brittle when packaged, handled and burnt) and are second in quality only to
> our coconut shell char-briquettes (better then the wood charcoal residues
> briquettes). We have done an entire university thesis on corncob charcoal
> and char-briquettes with a biology engineering student here in Cambodia.
>
> We currently don't produce corncob char-briquettes because the supply of
> corncobs is seasonal here in Cambodia and therefore we have opted for more
> secure (non-seasonal) feedstock such as coconut shells. However, if there
> were places where the supply is abundant and reliable, corncobs make a
> great feedstock for char-briquettes according to our experience.
>
> Best,
> Carlo
>
> On Wed, Jan 22, 2020 at 8:03 AM Crispin Pemberton-Pigott <
> crispinpigott at outlook.com> wrote:
>
>> Yes I understand that. Charcoal has very little value as a fertilizer
>> too, but it provides aeration and hold moisture moderating growing
>> conditions.
>>
>> It also has little value as a fuel because of its low mass and high ash
>> content. It may be that it would fail an ash content maximum in a national
>> standard.
>>
>> It's main merit is that is already collected and has no other significant
>> use.  When surveying biomass fuel use on Lombok Island I observed a major
>> use of corn cobs to be salt making. They burn well in bulk. They tend to
>> char completely and then burn as char. That means there is gas production
>> initially and a hot char fire afterwards. It's a pretty clean burn. They do
>> better with a grate.
>>
>> Regards
>> Crispin
>>
>>
>> *From:* info at sun24.solar
>> *Sent:* January 21, 2020 7:33 PM
>> *To:* stoves at lists.bioenergylists.org
>> *Reply to:* stoves at lists.bioenergylists.org
>> *Subject:* Re: [Stoves] Char from Corn cobs ??
>>
>> Hi Crispin,
>>
>> Cobs have little fertilizer value, especially compared to stover.  I
>> don't know about plowing over, probably depends on the farm.
>>
>> Kevin
>>
>>
>> On Tue, Jan 21, 2020 at 7:28 PM Crispin Pemberton-Pigott <
>> crispinpigott at outlook.com> wrote:
>>
>>> Dear Kevin
>>>
>>> Are they left to rot in the fields, because that is fertilizer.
>>>
>>> Perhaps they are ploughed under. That helps hold moisture.
>>>
>>> Crispin
>>> *From:* info at sun24.solar
>>> *Sent:* January 21, 2020 7:14 PM
>>> *To:* stoves at lists.bioenergylists.org
>>> *Reply to:* stoves at lists.bioenergylists.org
>>> *Subject:* Re: [Stoves] Char from Corn cobs ??
>>>
>>> Here is a photo essay
>>> <https://eur03.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fiaafrica.com%2Fa-day-in-rural-south-africa-photo-essay%2F&data=02%7C01%7C%7Cb3f980b3ce574ff6210908d79ed2c015%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C637152500318916388&sdata=R%2BUwErHu3AOUTZFtZLNRj76Ew4U3hCaBBdAI7wtsqpo%3D&reserved=0>
>>> on South African families collecting and burning maize cobs as cooking
>>> fuel.  But I've been emailing off list Abraham Abyslo in Nigeria, a member
>>> of this list.  Nobody in his area burns cobs, though maize is grown in
>>> abundance.  The cobs are left to rot.  It seems to vary by country and area
>>> within the country.
>>>
>>>
>>> On Tue, Jan 21, 2020 at 7:02 PM Crispin Pemberton-Pigott <
>>> crispinpigott at outlook.com> wrote:
>>>
>>>> Dear Neil
>>>>
>>>> You have highlighted th the main two attributes: high burn rate due to
>>>> a high surface to volume area, and a weak structure.
>>>>
>>>> To make a useful fuel outside the (literally) immediate place isn't
>>>> production it has to be densified unless there is a use for powdered char.
>>>> The reason I mentioned the new Ugandan charcoal standard is because it has
>>>> a requirement for the production of fines when bag is dropped. Charred cobs
>>>> will never pass such a test.
>>>>
>>>> The reason they have the requirement is that the fines do not burn
>>>> well. At all.  So selling a bag of charcoal briquettes is going to be
>>>> cheating the customer if it is 10% fines.
>>>>
>>>> Regards
>>>> Crispin
>>>> *From:* neiltm at uwclub.net
>>>> *Sent:* January 21, 2020 5:04 PM
>>>> *To:* stoves at lists.bioenergylists.org
>>>> *Reply to:* stoves at lists.bioenergylists.org
>>>> *Subject:* Re: [Stoves] Char from Corn cobs ??
>>>>
>>>> On 21 Jan 2020 at 8:25, Cookswell Jikos wrote:
>>>>
>>>> > Corn cob charcoal itself is pretty awesome - it burns super fast and
>>>> > hot which makes it good for blending with regular charcoal or quick
>>>> > cooking of things like tea or rice.
>>>>
>>>> I have burned a few and then burned the char, not exclusively but mixed
>>>> in with other 'fines' and generally friable char saved from TLUD and
>>>> rocket stoves mostly, and I can identify with the above statement when
>>>> comparing my home made char with more substantial commercial 'lumpwood'
>>>> charcoal.
>>>> I also find that wood that has half rotted, but when dry makes a very
>>>> friable char, much as the corn cobs do, and does indeed burn super fast
>>>> and hot, lighting exteremely quickly, which is also true of the wood
>>>> itself in the TLUD.
>>>>
>>>> With my small cast iron pot bellied BBQ with the addition of my
>>>> computer
>>>> fan 'turbo', I can have a fire to cook on in about a minute from
>>>> lighting
>>>> with a couple of sheets of newspaper under the grate, and with enough
>>>> fuel in a single charge, a fire that lasts long enough to cook chicken
>>>> pieces - about 40 mins.
>>>>
>>>> I introduced the fan when I experienced inadequate draft because of the
>>>> density of the layer of fine char impeding air flow, but apart from
>>>> starting the fire, mostly it is not necessary once going, although
>>>> sometimes useful in short bursts as another way to vary the heat, and
>>>> if
>>>> I reload during a long cook.
>>>>
>>>> I can appreciate though that this type of char might be difficult to
>>>> transport and sell without degredation and would presumably need the
>>>> sort
>>>> of charcoal stove that can burn pellet char which I imagine is more
>>>> structurally robust but have no experience of.  But used at source I
>>>> find
>>>> it excellent and easy, and makes for a very controllable heat.
>>>>
>>>> Neil Taylor in England
>>>>
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