<html><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html charset=utf-8"></head><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space;" class="">Dear Crispin and Stovers,<div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">Above 450c will get the carbon value above 90% DAF basis when the ash content is low. I also believe that to be true when the ash is high but the Leco measuring CHN I believe may pick up some things from the ash. Oxygen is by difference. And if the char sample being tested sits around can take up moisture (hydrogen and oxygen) so the test for CHN needs to be carefully run. </div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">So I suggest going to 550c to be sure every lab is at least above 450c. </div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">What we are writing about is the Test Method, correct? Every lab doing the same thing and getting the same results. And all being done under N2 Gas in a TGA. This test on a representative sample of the fuel from a specific site and this value used for all labs testing to normalize their results to on the fuel they are actually using. </div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">So we are not talking ‘Representative’. We have defined this carbon as being the ‘fixed carbon’. Unlike the results Tom Reed reported in his book and what the coal people are using where the ‘fixed carbon’ also includes any oxygen and hydrogen etc. etc. in the sample. We have isolated the ‘fixed carbon’ as the fixed <u class="">carbon</u> in the char. </div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">From my findings I suggest we give the value as 90% carbon and the rest oxygen and 1 percent hydrogen. But it would be nice to repeat a lot of what Tom Reed did with more appropriate samples for what we are doing. </div><div class=""> </div><div class="">Drying should be done at 200c - not 105c as with most materials. </div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">Your goal is:</div><div class="">% moisture</div><div class="">% volatiles (550c-N2)</div><div class="">% Total Fixed (calculated)</div><div class="">% ash of the Total fixed to get the (% char DAF)</div><div class="">That DAF sample = 90% of that is carbon + 1 percent H and 9% oxygen - all estimated (until something better comes up).</div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">The description of the Real World sample people are going to use along with the analysis above will give labs what they need. All they need to do is collect ‘like’ biomass adjust the moisture and char it under N2 at 550c. Then ash the char produced to estimate the Fixed Carbon in the sample and, using the above estimates, determine the amount of carbon to split into solid-C -> CO and CO -> CO2. Depending on the Task the three fractions are normalized to the Real World fuel - is the way I see it.</div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">Is this ‘another’ calculation method? Do we need another?</div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">Regards</div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">Frank</div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">Frank Shields</div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class=""><br class=""><div><blockquote type="cite" class=""><div class="">On Nov 25, 2015, at 3:31 PM, Crispin Pemberton-Pigott <<a href="mailto:crispinpigott@outlook.com" class="">crispinpigott@outlook.com</a>> wrote:</div><br class="Apple-interchange-newline"><div class=""><div class="" lang="en-GB" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: initial;"> <div style="width: 100%; font-size: initial; font-family: Calibri, 'Slate Pro', sans-serif, sans-serif; color: rgb(31, 73, 125); text-align: initial; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" class="">Dear Frank and Julien</div><div style="width: 100%; font-size: initial; font-family: Calibri, 'Slate Pro', sans-serif, sans-serif; color: rgb(31, 73, 125); text-align: initial; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" class=""><span style="font-size: initial; line-height: initial; text-align: initial; font-family: Calibri, 'Slate Pro', sans-serif, sans-serif;" class=""><br class=""></span></div><div style="width: 100%; font-size: initial; font-family: Calibri, 'Slate Pro', sans-serif, sans-serif; color: rgb(31, 73, 125); text-align: initial; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" class=""><span style="font-size: initial; line-height: initial; text-align: initial; font-family: Calibri, 'Slate Pro', sans-serif, sans-serif;" class="">If you know the pyrolysis temperature is above, say, 550 C, is it true that the remaining char is 'representative' of the fixed carbon content of the fuel? How close is it? What temperature would you say is close enough to give a meaningful fixed carbon number? </span></div><div style="width: 100%; font-size: initial; font-family: Calibri, 'Slate Pro', sans-serif, sans-serif; color: rgb(31, 73, 125); text-align: initial; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" class=""><span style="font-size: initial; line-height: initial; text-align: initial; font-family: Calibri, 'Slate Pro', sans-serif, sans-serif;" class=""><br class=""></span></div><div style="width: 100%; font-size: initial; font-family: Calibri, 'Slate Pro', sans-serif, sans-serif; color: rgb(31, 73, 125); text-align: initial; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" class=""><span style="font-size: initial; line-height: initial; text-align: initial; font-family: Calibri, 'Slate Pro', sans-serif, sans-serif;" class="">Hirendra Chakbarti is punting a calculation method for ultimate analysis that requires the fixed carbon number. From what I see it requires drying it first because the moisture affects the final dry carbon mass. Still, a mathematical fix might deal with that. </span></div><div style="width: 100%; font-size: initial; font-family: Calibri, 'Slate Pro', sans-serif, sans-serif; color: rgb(31, 73, 125); text-align: initial; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" class=""><span style="font-size: initial; line-height: initial; text-align: initial; font-family: Calibri, 'Slate Pro', sans-serif, sans-serif;" class=""><br class=""></span></div><div style="width: 100%; font-size: initial; font-family: Calibri, 'Slate Pro', sans-serif, sans-serif; color: rgb(31, 73, 125); text-align: initial; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" class=""><span style="font-size: initial; line-height: initial; text-align: initial; font-family: Calibri, 'Slate Pro', sans-serif, sans-serif;" class="">My specific goal is the fixed carbon content of the original fuel which has a known moisture content, but nothing else save the total mass. </span></div><div style="width: 100%; font-size: initial; font-family: Calibri, 'Slate Pro', sans-serif, sans-serif; color: rgb(31, 73, 125); text-align: initial; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" class=""><span style="font-size: initial; line-height: initial; text-align: initial; font-family: Calibri, 'Slate Pro', sans-serif, sans-serif;" class=""><br class=""></span></div><div style="width: 100%; font-size: initial; font-family: Calibri, 'Slate Pro', sans-serif, sans-serif; color: rgb(31, 73, 125); text-align: initial; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" class=""><span style="font-size: initial; line-height: initial; text-align: initial; font-family: Calibri, 'Slate Pro', sans-serif, sans-serif;" class="">Thanks</span></div><div style="width: 100%; font-size: initial; font-family: Calibri, 'Slate Pro', sans-serif, sans-serif; color: rgb(31, 73, 125); text-align: initial; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" class=""><span style="font-size: initial; line-height: initial; text-align: initial; font-family: Calibri, 'Slate Pro', sans-serif, sans-serif;" class="">Crispin </span></div><div style="width: 100%; font-size: initial; font-family: Calibri, 'Slate Pro', sans-serif, sans-serif; color: rgb(31, 73, 125); text-align: initial; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" class=""><span style="font-size: initial; line-height: initial; text-align: initial; font-family: Calibri, 'Slate Pro', sans-serif, sans-serif;" class=""><br class=""></span></div><br class=""><div id="_originalContent" style="" class=""><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html charset=windows-1252" class="">Dear Ron and Stovers,<div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">My interest is controlling the fuel. This done by 1) collecting fuel like that being used in real World and 2) normalizing the energy value going to the secondary by using pyrolyze gases + (CO -> CO2) values. </div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">I cannot determine any energy efficiency values because this is just one side of the equation. And you do not supply me with the values of this one side as I need them. </div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">The value I am proposing is only useful for energy traveling to another location - secondary. Making char does not require energy, in fact it waste energy. And (bio-)char does not have useful energy, in fact the energy is locked up and cannot be used by soil microbes for 1000 years. So what I propose is not applicatable to what you are talking about and not intended to be so. </div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">Your (bio-)char (not charcoal used for cooking) is not ‘energy’ locked up but should be referred to as carbon. Following the total carbon in the feedstock; separating it into available carbon and non-available carbon (TGA) for optimum then determining the amount actually made from your char-maker is more to what you want. And that being your efficiency values. </div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">But in a World that is connecting fuel energy producing non-available carbon (biochar) and that biochar is made >90% carbon (DAF) I guess it would be ok to assign non-available carbon with an energy value and use in calculations. Lets see if we can do that:</div><div class="">1) we need total energy of the biomass fuel (dry weight)</div><div class="">2) using TGA we need energy of the total char (DAF) </div><div class="">We assume the char (DAF) is 90+% carbon and assign that an energy value.</div><div class="">3) We determine energy of the pyrolysis gases (total - char)</div><div class=""> 4) So thats the total maximum amount of energy assigned to biochar that should be produced in your devise. </div><div class="">5) You run YOUR device and produce biochar. Ash a subsample to determine the weight of biochar (DAF). Assign an energy value to it based on biochar (DAF) being >90% carbon. </div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">Now you can calculate the efficiency of your device at producing biochar.</div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">Note: If you have wood (dry) and you use the pyrolysis gases for something, you use the CO->CO2 gases for something and use the (Bio-)char left over for something then 100% of the energy in the wood is always used. You are left with efficiency determinations found (compared to that determined by TGA) for making biochar. But if making biochar is found less than expected so to be not very efficient then the non-biochar gases (CO -> CO2) went to join the pyrolysis gases and it still always = all adds up to 100%. You can’t go wrong!</div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">Where you can go wrong is if after making the biochar you test it to see if it still has hydrogen and lots of oxygen left indicating not a good biochar and it is then wasted. This is bad.</div><div class="">But if still good for char cooking (due to some volatiles) you are now back to 100% efficiency. You can’t go wrong!</div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">100% efficiency every time!</div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">Love it!</div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">Frank </div><!--end of _originalContent --></div></div>
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