[Gasification] Biochar et al.
Paul Judd
sukiipooru at gmail.com
Sun Dec 8 17:16:12 CST 2013
On 07/12/13 09:00, David Murphy wrote:
>
> Greetings Biochar/Gasifier people !
>
> Everybody & his dog seems to have something to say about
> charcoal/biochar/biochar-compost mix and so on. Well, here's
> another dog to bark his piece !
>
> Biochar is often seen as the great agricultural panacea, but _it is
> not_.Biochar is a name given to plain ordinary charcoal to indicate
> that it is destined for use in soil improvement, but basically it is
> still plain ordinary charcoal, just crushed into smaller particles. In
> some circumstances it is a very beneficial tool but it is not magical
> as some proponents seem to think. Just remember, all charcoal has a
> bio-origin - wood.
>
> In some Ag. trials in Australiait significantly improved crop volume
> (treble in one case) but in other instances, nothing worth writing
> home about.It depends on what the soil is like to start with.
>
> Charcoal is stable.That means it does not take part in any composting
> system (which is one primarily of bacterial digestion) and it is
> indigestible so that when offered as a dietary supplement (in poultry
> food for example) it passes through the digestive system physically
> unchanged but will adsorb a high proportion of the gases and some
> toxins produced in the process of digestion, because that is what
> charcoal does. For this reason, it's adsorption capability, poultry
> will generally do better on a little charcoal.
>
> Quite a few pages could be filled on the beneficial services provided
> by charcoal as it travels through the digestive system, but it does it
> as charcoal only and as nothing else. By all means use a little in
> the feed, you can only benefit.
>
> The only physical way to change the nature of charcoal is to burn
> it. That is why it lasts in soil (or wherever it is) for thousands
> of years.
>
> It has an incredibly high surface area of 360 m^2 (varies) and is a
> mass of minute tunnels which in turn means a very high volume and
> gases become trapped in these tunnels.It does not _ab_sorb, it
> _ad_sorbs and traps only.The difference between absorb and adsorb is
> the same as the difference in liquids of suspension and solution.Clay
> particles will be in suspension, sugar and salt go into solution.
>
> Charcoal is useful in an aerobic composting system because again of
> the entrapment of air in the tunnels.A composting system goes well if
> there is enough oxygen bearing air available to the bacteria which are
> a significant part of the system.The more air, the higher the
> population of bacteria (other factors being OK). The charcoal itself
> is inoperative, and doesn't change, nor is it a catalyst, it simply
> provides a service. It will only provide a haven for soil benevolent
> bacteria if there is something trapped in the tunnels which the
> bacteria can eat.
>
> Charcoal is a good adsorber of gas and liquid simply because that is
> what it does.Zeolite on the other hand, can have an even higher
> surface are per gram and has a propensity to entrap gases, most
> particularly nitrogen in it's various forms -- as gas -- ammonium for
> example -- and in liquids as a salt of NO_3 .It actually draws them in
> (like a magnet attracts ferric objects) where charcoal just takes it
> as it comes. It is easy to see also why charcoal is so effective as
> a filter, but if you have a solution rich in nitrogen, run it through
> Zeolite and the N will be removed. Add some to the litterin poultry
> grower sheds, there will be fewer mortalities because the ammonia
> which sometimes will asphixiate small birds will be absorbed.
> Zeolite will take N out of solution, charcoal will not. There's 40
> natural forms of Zeolite and more than another 150 can be synthesised,
> so choose carefully for the one most appropriate to your problem.
> Zeolite can perform an amazing range of actions. Once used and
> applied as fertiliser, Zeolite subsequently will release the Nslowly
> and remain in the soil as a balancer of N. Too much, it will take it
> in (so that the soil pH is not lowered) and release it as required.
>
> Charcoal's great stuff though, it's easy to make and holds answers to
> a lot of problems - but not all !
>
> David Murphy.
>
>
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BioChar is not "ordinary charcoal".
Charcoal is usually made at temperatures above 1000C and all volatiles
are removed.
Bio-char is made a lower temperatures, 400~600C just above spontaneous
combustion temperature of organic material (wet or dry). It contains
tars and a different structure withing the hollows than `ordinary
charcoal`. It is the structure and the tars that make a good home for
soil micro organisms. It also holds water and minerals better than
charcoal.
See http://www.biochar-international.org/ for more detailed information
and projects.
Local Australian groups:
http://biocharproject.org/
http://www.bioenergyaustralia.org/
--
Paul Judd B.App.Sc. Secondary Metallurgy, Dip Electrotechnology Renewable Energy, Dip Sustainability
Trainer and Sustainability Advisor
PAJeco Sustainable Education
Sustainability: Learning to live today but leaving enough to live tomorrow
http://www.pajeco.com.au
paul.a.judd at pajeco.com.au
+61415518134
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