[Stoves] [Biochar] Ceramic Philosophy: Request for Pyrolysis Biochar Stove Designs

Sat Feb 11 19:12:08 CST 2023

Stephen,

I like so much what you write here about clay and biochar.
When we add a small amount of kaolin to coffee husks and then make pellets,
instead of yellow flame and a lot of black smoke, we get a beautiful blue
flame when gasified.

Thanks.
Paul Olivier

On Sun, Feb 12, 2023 at 3:27 AM Stephen Joseph <joey.stephen at gmail.com>
wrote:

> Hi Gabriel
>
> I started my biochar career when I taught Indigenous Australians ceramics,
> engineering and manual arts.  They taught me how to make and use biochar.
> But the most valuable lesson they taught me was clay and biochar are
> synergistic.  The yin and the yang the white and the black.  They use this
> combination in medicine, for cooking and in art.  From a
> scientific perspective, we have found that pretreating biomass with clay
> and or postreating the biochar with clay improves it properties.
>  Pretreating with clay helps to increase yields and condenses out organic
> compounds on the clay that helps seeds germinate and provides food for
> microbes.  We also found that bacteria that can fix carbon and nitrogen
> grow at the interface between the carbon matrix and the clay platelets.
> Because kaolin clay has a much higher AEC and bentonite clay a higher CEC
> than biochars then you increase the nutrient holding capacity.
>
> But pretreating with clay also increases persistence of the biochar.  The
> present methodologies don't take this into account.
> People should read these article
>
> Wang, F., Zhang, R., Donne, S.W., Beyad, Y., Liu, X., Duan, X., Yang, T.,
> Su, P. and Sun, H., 2022. Co-pyrolysis of wood chips and bentonite/kaolin:
> Influence of temperatures and minerals on characteristics and carbon
> sequestration potential of biochar. *Science of The Total Environment*,
> *838*, p.156081.
> Rawal, A., Joseph, S.D., Hook, J.M., Chia, C.H., Munroe, P.R., Donne, S.,
> Lin, Y., Phelan, D., Mitchell, D.R., Pace, B. and Horvat, J., 2016.
> Mineral–biochar composites: molecular structure and porosity. *Environmental
> science & technology*, *50*(14), pp.7706-7714.
>
> Rafiq, M.K., Joseph, S.D., Li, F., Bai, Y., Shang, Z., Rawal, A., Hook,
> J.M., Munroe, P.R., Donne, S., Taherymoosavi, S. and Mitchell, D.R., 2017.
> Pyrolysis of attapulgite clay blended with yak dung enhances pasture growth
> and soil health: Characterization and initial field trials. *Science of
> the Total Environment*, *607*, pp.184-194.
>
> Reynolds, A., Joseph, S.D., Verheyen, T.V., Chinu, K., Taherymoosavi, S.,
> Munroe, P.R., Donne, S., Pace, B., van Zwieten, L., Marjo, C.E. and Thomas,
> T., 2018. Effect of clay and iron sulphate on volatile and
> water-extractable organic compounds in bamboo biochars. *Journal of
> Analytical and Applied Pyrolysis*, *133*, pp.22-29
>
> stephen
>
>
>
> On Sun, Feb 12, 2023 at 2:40 AM Gabriel Reed <gabriel at gabrielreed.com>
> wrote:
>
>> Hello All,
>>
>> Just a quick note of deep gratitude and thanks to everyone for this
>> discussion and pointing me toward such valuable resources.
>>
>> I look forward to collaborating with anyone interested. Toward that end,
>> I will be bringing a select group of Continental Philosopher's from the
>> United States to Colombia in May and we will work with local indigenous
>> leaders and clay to further this dialogue.
>>
>> As a ceramist I study how fire moves through space. While it seems clear
>> that any industrial TLUD stoves would benefit from being made of metal, my
>> hunch is that there may be some productive sideways education, awareness,
>> and perhaps technology on the ceramic side.  I intend on creating a series
>> of exploratory biochar producing sculptures in the spirit of Braseros. For
>> those of you who have been to the Museum of Anthropology in Mexico City,
>> these vessels will be familiar.
>>
>> [image: image.png]
>>
>> Lastly, as a philosopher, I study the imagination of clay and fire and
>> would like to offer a few excellent resources to the group.
>>
>> 1. Gaston Bachelard, Psychoanalysis of Fire (1938)
>> 2. Stephen J. Pyne, Fire: A Brief History - Second Edition (2019)
>> 3. Jo Handelsman, A World Without Soil (2021)
>>
>> Cheers,
>>
>> Gabriel
>>
>> *Gabriel Reed*
>> cell (816) 808-9158
>> www.gabrielreed.com <http://gabrielreed.com/> (coming soon...)
>>
>>
>> On Thu, Feb 9, 2023 at 1:59 AM Ron Larson <rongretlarson at comcast.net>
>> wrote:
>>
>>> Biochar:  cc Jed
>>>
>>> I meant this to go to both lists
>>>
>>> Ron
>>>
>>> Begin forwarded message:
>>>
>>> *From: *Ronal Larson <rongretlarson at comcast.net>
>>> *Subject: **Re: [Stoves] [Biochar] Ceramic Philosophy: Request for
>>> Pyrolysis Biochar Stove Designs*
>>> *Date: *February 8, 2023 at 11:56:41 PM MST
>>> *To: *"stoves at lists.bioenergylists.org" <stoves at lists.bioenergylists.org>,
>>> gabriel at gabrielreed.com
>>> *Cc: *Joshua Guinto <jed.building.bridges at gmail.com>
>>>
>>> Gabriel and List, cc Joshua (Jed)
>>>
>>> I urge more than the Facebook.  See his website (given at the Facebook
>>> site)
>>>
>>> I should have remembered and recommended Joshua.  In the world of
>>> charcoal making cookstoves, if we had to score everyone on artistic
>>> capabilities, I’d give Joshua an A+, with the next place person/firm maybe
>>> getting a C.
>>>
>>> I just went looking for proof of this and couldn’t find an example for
>>> half an hour.  But see some sites below.  So - Joshua - can you send a
>>> couple of other examples, where artistic design was part of your sales
>>> strategy.
>>>
>>> See more below
>>>
>>>
>>> On Feb 8, 2023, at 6:54 PM, Joshua Guinto <
>>> jed.building.bridges at gmail.com> wrote:
>>>
>>> Dear Gabriel
>>>
>>> I'm interested in what you do for ageoecoloegy and how stoves Will fit
>>> into your work.
>>>
>>> We at Bahay Teknik is doing a lot with clay and we formulate our own
>>> recipe to produce firebricks for our rocket stoves.
>>>
>>> Joshua:  I had forgotten on this.  Gabriel will know that potters have
>>> to pay a lot for firebricks in their gas and electric kilns.  Maybe a third
>>> (??) of the weight of regular bricks - highly efficient.  I have no idea
>>> how to make one, but presumably Joshua would be willing to sell some -
>>> maybe even of your own design.  I hope he can expand on the next sentence.
>>>
>>> We also make variations of recipes for different types of bricks
>>> depending upon the required functions.
>>>
>>> Our rocket.stoves is actually a hybrid of a rocket and a TLUD gasifier.
>>> With pili nut shells which we have in abundance in my region, the stove
>>> runs on a gasifier mode during the first fuel load and then switch to
>>> rocket thereafter. It can run on wood sticks, wood pellets, holey
>>> briquettes and pili (or small size nut) shells. Temperature at the fire
>>> chamber could go as high as 700 degrees Celsius, thus producing a good
>>> quality brochar.
>>> We can harvest the biochar with ease by simply dumping the hot char in a
>>> pan of water.
>>>
>>> You may visit our Facebook page Bahay Teknik. Our manager Sandino will
>>> be glad to assist you.
>>>
>>> *[RWL:  I’ve just spent more than an hour wandering around.  Found many
>>> things new to me.  Example here is a 1 hour video on biochar:
>>>  https://www.facebook.com/bahayteknik/videos/551466433518685
>>> <https://www.facebook.com/bahayteknik/videos/551466433518685>*
>>> * It is in a native language - as it should be.*
>>>
>>> * I found a huge file of photos. About 5 (out of at least 500) that
>>> showed a bit of his combined engineering and art skills.  Here is an
>>> example of the very small number I could find.  I’ll bet he has made
>>> hundreds like this - with little repetition.*
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> * I was amazed at the advances seen in pizza ovens.  Maybe 10 different
>>> designs.  Some that could be very cheap.*
>>>
>>> * It is now so late that I have to stop.   Josh - congratulations on
>>> having accomplished so much.  It must be very satisfying to be working with
>>> a very talented son.  Please talk a little about the likely big difficulty
>>> of combining your art talents with a shop focussed on low-cost biochar.*
>>>
>>> *Ron*
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Best regards
>>>
>>> Jed Guinto
>>>
>>> On Thu, 9 Feb 2023, 5:54 am Ronal Larson, <rongretlarson at comcast.net>
>>> wrote:
>>>
>>>> Gabriel and ccs (adding the stoves list (the predecessor “mother” of
>>>> the biochar (terra preta) group you started with.  [note different address
>>>> for Paul]
>>>>
>>>> Welcome as a first poster.  We need more potters on this list - as so
>>>> many cook stoves are presently being made by potters.
>>>>
>>>> I write as husband of a potter.  I have tried to make several clay
>>>> TLUDs.  I failed.   Cracked. Pretty quickly   But I still think that
>>>> char-making can be done in ceramic stoves.
>>>> There is some clay being sold with paper as an ingredient that is
>>>> claimed to have minimal expansion as heated up (the exhaust gas
>>>> temperatures are pretty impressive.  I have never heard of anyone using
>>>> such clay.  I haven’t)
>>>> The top of a TLUD will get up to cone 022 (dull red) in a minute or so,
>>>> while the bottom is still room temperature.  Having the cylinder be
>>>> segmented will help, but you also are trying to control air.  Not like
>>>> heating up in a kiln.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Kevin McLean has had considerable charcoal-making success with unfired
>>>> large un-fired clay “bricks."  See his Sun24 website. The firing as a stove
>>>> will do some hardening of the clay.  Too early to get lifetime data with
>>>> Kevin’s nice low-cost approach.
>>>>
>>>> I wouldn’t worry too much about Terra Preta.  Very valuable discussions
>>>> around 2000-2010 - but no connection to pottery.
>>>>  (One exception - I’ve seen some literature that the ancient Amazonians
>>>> also obtained a product like that coming from a present day low-temperature
>>>> approach called HTC, they using big clay urns)
>>>> The sites www.biochar-international.org and www.biochar-us.org will
>>>> give some good information.  Especially on webinars - some have been on
>>>> stoves.
>>>>
>>>> Ron
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> On Feb 8, 2023, at 12:45 PM, Teel, Wayne <teelws at jmu.edu> wrote:
>>>>
>>>> Gabriel,
>>>>
>>>> Get in contact with Paul Anderson, , and he will help you from there.
>>>> He is a regular and valuable contributor to this list.
>>>>
>>>> Wayne
>>>>
>>>> *From:* main at Biochar.groups.io <main at Biochar.groups.io> *On Behalf Of *Gabriel
>>>> Reed
>>>> *Sent:* Wednesday, February 8, 2023 12:21 PM
>>>> *To:* main at Biochar.groups.io
>>>> *Subject:* [Biochar] Ceramic Philosophy: Request for Pyrolysis Biochar
>>>> Stove Designs
>>>>
>>>> *CAUTION: *This email originated from outside of JMU. Do not click
>>>> links or open attachments unless you recognize the sender and know the
>>>> content is safe.
>>>> ------------------------------
>>>>
>>>> Hello All,
>>>>
>>>> First post in this group.
>>>>
>>>> I'm a ceramic philosopher doing some research here in Cali, Colombia
>>>> and am interested in building pyrolysis stoves for an agroecology project
>>>> called Fundcación Yūtopialab. If anyone has resources they can point me to
>>>> specifically on the topic of Terra Preta and/or especially stove designs
>>>> that would be greatly appreciated!
>>>>
>>>> Cheers,
>>>>
>>>> Gabriel
>>>>
>>>>
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-- 
Paul A. Olivier PhD
104/43 Phu Dong Thien Vuong
Dalat
Vietnam

Louisiana telephone: 1-337-447-4124 (rings Vietnam)
Mobile: 090-694-1573 (in Vietnam)
Skype address: Xpolivier
http://epwt.vn/en/home/
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