[Stoves] ***SPAM*** Re: Re: [Biochar] Box-Kiln for improved charcoal production, Adam 21.12.020 Youtube/ Afterburner

[dr.adam]

Dear Nando Breiter,thanks for great contribution for an afterburner,your text is quite complex and i will read it carefully once the moment comes. In case you have any sketch, it would help too.I actually would try to use some of the heat created by burning the stack gas- for pushing the carbonization. I might think to integrate an afterburner inside the cover/box, lets see?I might build this box-kiln at Ghana in March, i will keep you updated.Sprichst Du auch Deutsch?BestChris ADAM

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VRRNVc3zqAU
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    On Friday, 25 December 2020, 18:16:22 CET, Nando Breiter <nando at carbonzero.ch> wrote:  
 
 I like this design Chris. A very simple afterburner could be constructed as follows at no / little cost.
Find a small steel barrel ( 30 gallon ) and cut out both ends so you have a hollow tube. For a larger kiln like that shown in the video, it might be better to have 2 cut out barrels and tack weld them together to form a longer hollow tube to contain the flare.

The holes where the stovepipes exit will need to be closed/eliminated. Instead, place the barrel between where the stovepipes were so that the edge of the barrel is perhaps 20-30 cm in from the edge of the box. Find the center point of the barrel circumference with the barrel in position on top of the box and put a mark there.
If you seal the bottom edge of the box-kiln with soil, you might be able to get away with a single 10mm hole to allow the gases to escape. If not, you'll need a larger hole, or a straight line of 10 mm holes, enough so that the gases escape out the hole(s) rather than being pushed out from underneath the box-kiln edge. (In a 200 liter barrel kiln, a single 8mm hole is plenty. The gases come out under some pressure, but that helps to mix air with the gas stream.)

Find 2 pieces of firebrick. You'll place them either side of the hole(s). Make some legs for your afterburner, perhaps a tripod modeled after the Spacex landing legs on the booster, so that there is about a 10 cm gap between the bottom of the barrel and the top of the box-kiln. That gap will allow air into your afterburner. 

Set the firebrick and afterburner barrel aside. Load and start the batch on fire. When the lid is closed, place the firebricks on either side of the hole(s) leaving the same gap as the diameter of the hole(s), so the wood gas contacts the firebrick on the way out. Place the Spacex Afterburner centered over the holes and firebrick. Then with some kindling, start a little fire on top of the kiln box next to the afterburner. Add some long sticks so the ends are in the fire. Then gently push the fire to the edge of the afterburner with one of the long sticks, and then a bit under. It might take a bit of fiddling, but the gases will ignite, and the exhaust will be clean. Take one of the sticks that has an ember on it, before your fire under the afterburner goes out, and place it where the gas is exiting the kiln, on top of the firebrick. The gas flow will keep the ember glowing and the ember will keep the gas flame lit. 

Once the afterburner has been burning for a while, perhaps 20-30 minutes or so, the firebrick should keep the flame lit without an ember at the end of a stick. A stainless steel wire mesh, or just stainless wire bunched up in a tangle, suspended or jammed in the barrel over where the gas exits, will also help to maintain the flame.

While the above approach fits with the simple DIY character of the kiln, a more sophisticated afterburner is certainly possible. 


See the stick? The ember at the end is helping to maintain the flare. In the beginning of a batch, the wood gas will have some moisture content, so the flare tends to go out without support of some kind.


I used a stovepipe here, but it's not really necessary. It's more difficult to weld, and it's going to fail where it's getting red hot. So I think using 2 connected barrels is better.



The flare here is being maintained by 2 firebricks positioned either side of the gas exit hole. Once the firebrick gets hot and the moisture is out of the wood gas, it worked well for me.

Clean stack. 

Use heavy leather welding gloves when placing and maintaining the afterburner. Avoid windy days. 




On Wed, Dec 23, 2020 at 8:20 PM Ron Larson <rongretlarson at comcast.net> wrote:

Chris and ccs
 Thanks for a good response.
 We have to strongly argue against “smoldering” kilns for anything called biochar.
 I endorse your request for funding to add the afterburner.
Ron



On Dec 22, 2020, at 11:54 PM, dr.adam <scda2 at ymail.com> wrote:
Dear All,yes, its better not to use "smouldering kilns", but "retort kilns" instead. 
However as long as ring kilns are used, the "box-kiln" might be a better alternative,because a "box kiln" can be easier fitted with some insulation (= better efficiency) and also they are more suitable to fit an "afterburner"?I do not have an own workshop, i paid all expenses from my private pocket to build this prototype.
So let see if we find some organization which funds the 2nd stage to modify and integrate an "afterburner" in it?CheersChris ADAM


    On Wednesday, 23 December 2020, 01:43:17 CET, Ronal Larson <rongretlarson at comcast.net> wrote:  
 
 List , Frank, Chris, and other ccs
 I take Frank’s message to contain a concern for the excessive smoke with Chris Adam’s kiln.   I agree.
 Chris - at 2:30 of your video on the box kiln,  there is a note saying that one can add an after-burner.  If, you’ve done that - can you send anything on the improvement?
Ron



On Dec 22, 2020, at 6:04 AM, Frank Strie <frank.strie at gmail.com> wrote:

Thanks for the link to the trading company Kobus Venter,
>From your website I see that you also have invested many years of hard work and commitment.

Interesting images on this book cover :
https://woodsmithexperience.co.uk/product/making-charcoal-and-biochar-a-comprehensive-guide 
…”There are chapters on the heritage skills of earth burns, the enduring popularity of metal kilns and the future represented by the charcoal retort.
Biochar – or small particle charcoal – is heralded as an ancient but rediscovered ‘super substance’. It can increase soil fertility and productivity whilst locking up carbon into the ground. This book looks at the ongoing discussion and weighs up the evidence.”…

>From my personal and practical experience over the past 13+ years on this topic, the  big difference between the classic charcoal ring kilns with lid, air inlets and 4 to 6 pipe chimneys (I have a big one, but it became obsolete for us some six and a half years ago),  is the air pollution / smoke emissions, condensations and lower carbonisation temperature.
When I  compare this old fashioned smothered, “smouldering burn” with the optimal open burn, in deep cones & ring kilns without lid and without condensation we get very different results.
When it comes to Biochar for soil improvement, quenching with nutrient rich liquid (if available) or water will result in very different products to snuffing the char dry.
The particulates from black carbon / dust is another reason why I would not suggest to hold on to this practice. 
Producing dry charcoal for fuel (carbon oxidisation) as the main / primary product objective  is therefore fundamentally different to the intentional production of high quality, fit for soil medium purpose, soil conditioners and  nutrient enriched Biochar.
The debate and the action continue, and that’s just fine … 
 Frank again       From: main at Biochar.groups.io <main at Biochar.groups.io> On Behalf Of Kobus Venter
Sent: Tuesday, December 22, 2020 9:06 PM
To: main at biochar.groups.io
Subject: Re: [Biochar] Box-Kiln for improved charcoal production, Adam 21.12.020 Youtube  Flattered that my company VUTHISA is being mentioned in the video. Just have to point out that the small TPI metal kiln pictured is actually being sold by a UK company: https://woodsmithexperience.co.uk/product-category/charcoal-kilns-equipment/page/2/  Also note our kilns are now all being lined with various types of insulation so we don't advocate using a system where any part of the flame interacts with a metal surface similar to this pizza oven: https://vuthisa.files.wordpress.com/2020/12/20201130_131434.jpg an example of a refractory cement cast in a mould.   I really love the ideas coming from Chris Adam - we often talk and exchange ideas - that's the way it should be.     Wbr  Kobus      
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  On Mon, Dec 21, 2020 at 6:49 PM Tom Miles <tmiles at trmiles.com> wrote:

From: dr.adam <scda2 at ymail.com> 
Sent: Monday, December 21, 2020 3:51 AM
Box-Kiln for improved charcoal production, Adam  21.12.020  Youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VRRNVc3zqAU&t=6s  Dear All,i was uploading the video clip of the new "box-kiln" i developed lately.Give it a "like" and/or add some comment if you want, ThanksChris ADAM----------------------------Hallo,habe gerade den Youtube Clip zu meinem "Box-Kiln" (Kastenmeiler) auf Youtube gestellt,gebt ein "like" dazu, vielleicht auch einen kurzen Kommentar wenn ihr wollt..Lieben GrußChris A. 

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