[Gasification] Karve connecting Biochar and Biogas

rongretlarson at comcast.net rongretlarson at comcast.net
Wed Oct 5 22:04:53 CDT 2011


AD (cc four lists): 

I have not previously seen the connection between Biochar and Biogas that you described (below) today on the gasification list. In particular, you say you ".. filled the digester 
with charcoal, my system accepted three times the normal daily input 
and produced three times as much gas. " 
I think what you describe can be a very powerful push for both Biochar and Biogas. Can you describe what you have learned a little more? 

I know too little of digesters, so this is not clear. I think I know your kitchen-sized inverted "barrel" gas chamber and think I understand the last part - of getting three times as much gas in the next 24 hours or less (and 3X is a huge change!). Does the idea of accepting three times more mean essentially the same thing? I would think you could "jam" any amount in; what limits acceptance? 

Do you agree that this is very important new information? Do you agree this information could help speed up both technologies? I believe there is wide agreement that Biochar benefits from added biological material (that would not be long-lived from a sequestration perspective). Is there any reason to think that the traditional use of digester effluent for ag improvements will be in any way harmed if it is continued through the addition of carbon-negative Biochar? Should this not promote sales of your charcoal-making stoves? 

If I haven't asked quite the right question - please answer the right one. And congratulations on learning and reporting this. 

Ron 





The remainder from AD Karve today on the gasification list: 

There are a lot of very simple ideas that need to be tested. I am 
currently working on increasing the efficiency of biogas digesters and 
feel that it might be possible to reduce the size and the capital 
expense of a biogas system. For instance, when I filled the digester 
with charcoal, my system accepted three times the normal daily input 
and produced three times as much gas. 
< snip> 
Yours 
A.D.Karve 
******************************************* 
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.bioenergylists.org/pipermail/gasification_lists.bioenergylists.org/attachments/20111006/331fd99c/attachment.html>


More information about the Gasification mailing list