[Gasification] Precising biochar coming from pyrolizers vs gasifiers

Tom Miles tmiles at trmiles.com
Fri Dec 6 09:47:28 CST 2013


Oscar,

Most of the biochar activity has emphasized pyrolysis char but we find that
gasifier char works very well for soil improvement. In some cases it works
much better than pyrolysis char. It has slightly different characteristics
but in general can be used in the same way. Much of the small scale biochar
that people are working with is made in top lit updraft gasifiers (TLUD)
which is gasification, not pyrolysis. The IBI protocol does not distinguish
between gasification and pyrolysis. The biochar must meet certain product
characteristics. 

Tom

-----Original Message-----
From: Gasification [mailto:gasification-bounces at lists.bioenergylists.org] On
Behalf Of Oscar Jimenez
Sent: Friday, December 06, 2013 6:05 AM
To: 'Discussion of biomass pyrolysis and gasification'
Subject: Re: [Gasification] Precising biochar coming from pyrolizers vs
gasifiers

Dear All.

I have just recently downloaded the " Guidelines European Biochar
Certificate for a sustainable production of biochar"  and soon I realized
that the mentioned above guideline only recognize biochar, coming from
pyrolizers, as the proper product for being used as a soil improver. The
product coming from gasification does not seem to be valuable for such task.
I tried to precise this issue and I found some general references but not
too deeply sustained with testing methods etc, as is the case with European
Certificate. So far it is not possible to seriously compare char coming from
pyrolizers vs gasifier as a soil improver. Then as far as I understand only
pyrolizer biochar is the only soil improver product to consider. Am I
right...???. I would deeply appreciate comments guiding me on this issues.
Thanking all of you in advance.

Kindest regards.

Oscar.
   


-----Mensaje original-----
De: Gasification [mailto:gasification-bounces at lists.bioenergylists.org] En
nombre de Erin Rasmussen
Enviado el: Wednesday, December 04, 2013 1:39 PM
Para: 'Discussion of biomass pyrolysis and gasification'
Asunto: Re: [Gasification] Bio-Char

Hi Doug, 

I think one of the clearest papers on the soil properties of biochar and how
it can work in soil systems is by Bruno Glaser and can be downloaded for
free in pdf from the publisher:
 
Daniel Fischer and Bruno Glaser (2012). Synergisms between Compost and
Biochar for Sustainable Soil Amelioration, Management of Organic Waste, Dr.
Sunil Kumar (Ed.), ISBN: 978-953-307-925-7, InTech, DOI: 10.5772/31200.
Available from:
http://www.intechopen.com/books/management-of-organic-waste/synergism-betwee
n-biochar-and-compost-for-sustainable-soil-amelioration

When we're talking about biochar with plants, we are generally talking about
using biochar and compost together. Just as you wouldn't try to live on
charcoal without food, you wouldn't want to feed your plants charcoal
without providing a source of nutrition. So in that sense Tom is right, it
does have the potential to tie up nutrients that are needed by plants. Dan
is right too, sometimes the whole soil system works in ways that aren't
predicted by chemical analysis. But the work done by soil scientists
studying biochar in the last couple of years leads me to believe that the
scientific community be able to understand these interactions well enough to
be able to make reliable application information available to people that
are interested in it.

kind regards,
Erin R. erin at trmiles.com 
-----Original Message-----
From: Gasification [mailto:gasification-bounces at lists.bioenergylists.org] On
Behalf Of Doug
Sent: Wednesday, December 04, 2013 10:03 AM

If what you say is correct, then I'd like to know why some charcoal can
survive thousands of years close to the surface and not be totally consumed.
Any further explanation regarding this area of interest I'm sure would be
appreciated by those of us less informed.

Doug Williams,
Fluidyne.



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