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</o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]--></head><body lang=EN-CA link=blue vlink=purple><div class=WordSection1><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D;mso-fareast-language:EN-US'>Dear Stovers interested in making Char<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D;mso-fareast-language:EN-US'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D;mso-fareast-language:EN-US'>I have seen the day before yesterday something that may provide an additional opportunity for using the char, possibly char from stoves.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D;mso-fareast-language:EN-US'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D;mso-fareast-language:EN-US'>At YDD (Yayasan Dian Desa) there is a long term gasifier programme which has ‘sizes’ up to 350 kW(e) which I have reported before. But I just saw a small internal combustion engine which runs on gas produced by a charcoal gasifier.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D;mso-fareast-language:EN-US'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D;mso-fareast-language:EN-US'>The gasifier is about the size of a large domestic stove and holds 7 kg of charcoal or so. From what I understand so far it is a) very simple to make and operate, b) has none of the problems which make pyrolysis gas difficult to clean for use in an engine and c) will operate an engine using about 3.5 kg per hour. I will get photos.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D;mso-fareast-language:EN-US'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D;mso-fareast-language:EN-US'>Indonesia has more than 10,000 occupied islands. Some of them have a lot of waste biomass, or just lots, or agricultural products including sawdust. Many only have diesel powered electricity.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D;mso-fareast-language:EN-US'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D;mso-fareast-language:EN-US'>If the char from a stove was suitably sized by planning the system as an integrated unit, then water pumping, oil pressing and electricity generation could be performed by very simple equipment. Candle nut shells are a good candidate for this as Nurhuda has already demonstrated making good quality char from a stove.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D;mso-fareast-language:EN-US'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D;mso-fareast-language:EN-US'>The use of the waste material from oil palm processing (the frond part that holds the nuts) is a big opportunity for the big plants. As you may know, huge areas of jungle forest are being cleared to create biodiesel plantations of mono-cropped oil palm trees. That is going to continue until the Europeans stop subsidising the destruction.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D;mso-fareast-language:EN-US'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D;mso-fareast-language:EN-US'>Dealing with the present means dealing with what is in hand which is a huge amount of these frond-things (can’t remember the real name). They can be processed using a gasifier that involves steam and a fluidised bed of ceramic sand. No problem, that has been solved by YDD and the Japanese, but it is complex.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D;mso-fareast-language:EN-US'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D;mso-fareast-language:EN-US'>Also the process produces virtually no char. If we were to take products such as Kaliandra (goat-wood, meaning goats create it stripping small branches of bark) and use that for cooking in a gasifier that makes char, the product is useful in a very simple locally made gasifier for operating an engine.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D;mso-fareast-language:EN-US'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D;mso-fareast-language:EN-US'>At some point there may be a frond-pellet product that could serve as well, but in the meantime there is already an opportunity.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D;mso-fareast-language:EN-US'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D;mso-fareast-language:EN-US'>A lot of the ‘goat wood’ is burned to get rid of it as there is no shortage of biomass in general and it is not a very nice cooking fuel because of its density and size.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D;mso-fareast-language:EN-US'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D;mso-fareast-language:EN-US'>So here is an opportunity for which all the elements exist: domestic or commercial cooking creating charcoal, and a charcoal gasifier that is simple and produces gas easily that can be used in any of the local engines – perhaps even a small motorcycle. Obviously the idea is to replace oil or gas with local biomass while cooking.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D;mso-fareast-language:EN-US'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D;mso-fareast-language:EN-US'>Regards<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D;mso-fareast-language:EN-US'>Crispin<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D;mso-fareast-language:EN-US'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D;mso-fareast-language:EN-US'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D;mso-fareast-language:EN-US'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><div><p class=MsoNormal>Julien, Paul, and lists:<o:p></o:p></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal><span class=apple-tab-span> </span>Tough problem. <o:p></o:p></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal><span class=apple-tab-span> </span>At first I was discouraged at the lack of sufficient Bangladesh input biomass. But this could be a perfect opportunity, if we can show through a Life Cycle Analysis (LCA), that biochar can solve, not exacerbate, the local biomass supply problem.<o:p></o:p></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal><span class=apple-tab-span><span style='color:#1F497D'>[snip]</span></span><o:p></o:p></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal>Ron<o:p></o:p></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal><span class=apple-tab-span> </span><o:p></o:p></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p></div><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><div><div><p class=MsoNormal>On May 7, 2014, at 7:55 PM, Paul Anderson <<a href="mailto:psanders@ilstu.edu">psanders@ilstu.edu</a>> wrote:<o:p></o:p></p></div><p class=MsoNormal><br><br><o:p></o:p></p><blockquote style='margin-top:5.0pt;margin-bottom:5.0pt'><div><div id=ygrp-mlmsg><div id=ygrp-msg><div id=ygrp-text><div><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:12.0pt;line-height:14.65pt;background:white'><span style='color:#1F497D'>[snip]</span> <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:12.0pt;line-height:14.65pt;background:white'>A year ago, I was invited to Bangladesh to look at their rural agrarian culture, and advise on possible roles for biochar. That is good soils topic, because it involves organic waste management, and creating a long-term increases in soil organic matter; much needed for their soils. However, that topic has been trumped as well. The difficulty was not how to use the biochar, but how to get it. With the high population density in Bangladesh, there is no spare biomass in the landscape. In fact, there is a shortage. So, if we are going to make biochar, it has to be as a byproduct of some current usage, or processing of waste biomass. At the household level, making biochar in micro-gasifier cookstoves has promise, but this technology needs to be developed locally. I have been put in contact with good researchers at the Bangladesh Council for Scientific and Industrial Research. However, as a consequence, I have ended up putting in vastly more time on combustion science than soil science. We are developing a network of specialists called the Bangladesh Biochar Initiative, and as the momentum builds, my role should diminish. This has been the most useful and interesting thing I have ever done: culturally fascinating and extremely multidisciplinary.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:12.0pt;line-height:14.65pt;background:white'> <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:12.0pt;line-height:14.65pt;background:white'>That is a brief description of me: a soil scientist in name, but a plant ecologist and combustion scientist in practice.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:12.0pt;line-height:14.65pt;background:white'><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'>[Julien]<o:p></o:p></span></p></div></div></div></div></div></blockquote></div></div></body></html>