Charcoal

Charcoal Gasification No. 5

Doug Willams, Fluidyne, August 23, 2007

Charcoal Gasifier No. 4: Operating the Charcoal Gasiifer
Doug Williams, Fluidyne, New Zealand, August 13, 2007

Hi Gasification Colleagues,

Charcoal Gasifier No. 3
Doug Williams, Fluidyne, New Zealand, July 28, 2007

Hi Gasification Colleagues,

It is clear from the private mail coming to me, that charcoal gasification has created an interest that allows many to now enter these discussions. While my emphasis is to try and make it understandable for beginners, it should also stimulate those more advanced to test what I say against their own experiences,( such as Ken Calvert has provided). His real DIY experiences show that you can get going if you have some help to start. I really do not like to ignore or delete mail asking questions, but please wait until the end of these informal lessons, to initiate questions and answers. If we do it that way, anyone in future can find all the discussion under the common Subject title, so please do not contaminate the title by using it to discuss other topics.

Charcoal Gasifier No 2
Doug Williams, Fluidyne, July 24, 2007

Hi Gasification Colleagues,

While charcoal gasifiers are as simple as desperation determines, the choices as to how they are designed is very much a factor of applied knowledge, using the materials that might be available. In the main, we will only be using components made of steel, and using basic welding equipment for assembly.

What is not discussed in literature on the subject of gasifier design, is the philosophy behind the design, and the phenomena created by that design. It is very clear that far to many people are locked into a mind set of chemical equations, and mathematical calculations before first being able to creating the correct phenomena to achieve the desired results.

Charcoal Gasifier No 1.
Doug Williams, Fluidyne, July 21, 2007

Hi Gasification Colleagues,

Back in June, I promised to give you some basic lessons on how to make a charcoal gasifier, and to explain some terminology. This is for those who understand nothing about gasification in a practical sense, so should kick start those with less ability or resources. It does not cover gasifiers that use raw biomass.

First Flames in a Charcoal Fired Pioneer (Fluidyne) Type Gasifier
Douglas Diaz MccLeod, January 23, 2007

General View

Select image to enlarge to Original.

The Making of the Kalle Gasifier
Torsten Källe, January/February 1942
(Translation to English 2000, Joacim Persson joacim@ymex.net)

Time to Master the Carbon Cycle
Erich J. Knight, January 16, 2007

Man has been controlling the carbon cycle , and there for the weather, since the invention of agriculture, all be it was as unintentional, as our current airliner contrails are in affecting global dimming. This unintentional warm stability in climate has over 10,000 years, allowed us to develop to the point that now we know what we did and that now we are over doing it.

Conference Announcement for the International Agrichar Initiative (IAI) April 29-May 2, 2007 Terrigal, New South Wales, Australia

What is the International Agrichar Initiative?

The International Agrichar Initiative is an informal, newly-formed coalition of research, commercial and policy-oriented people and organizations devoted to the sustainability of the world’s soils, and to sustainable bio-energy production. Agrichar production and utilization can renew the world’s soils
through the addition of organic carbon, which can help solve the pressing problem of global climate change. The Agrichar production process also converts agricultural waste into valuable bio-fuels.

What is the ‘Agrichar process’?

Agricultural feedstocks such as animal manure, rice hulls, peanut shells, corn stover or forest waste are pyrolized at low temperatures to produce a char product (“Agrichar” or “biochar”) and separate bio-energy streams, in the form of oils and/or gases. The biochar captures about 50% of the carbon in the feedstock, and can be used as a soil amendment to improve soil fertility, stability, and productivity, and to store carbon in the soils, as a means of mitigating global warming. The use of Agrichar in soils mimics the Terra Preta (“dark earth”) soils of the Amazon Basin, which have sequestered high quantities of carbon for thousands of years, and have dramatically improved soil fertility and sustainability without chemical inputs. The bio-energy produced, which accounts for the other 50% of feedstock carbon, can be used to fuel a variety of energy needs.

During the 18th World Congress of Soil Science (WCSS) in July 2006 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, a group of scientists, business interests, policy experts and others met to discuss the research priorities and challenges of this important area. The result is the International Agrichar Initiative, a movement to pursue a more organized research, development and commercialization effort to further the promise of Agrichar.
For information on the July 2006 meeting in Philadelphia and some current Agrichar-related projects and activities, go to: http://www.css.cornell.edu/faculty/lehmann/biochar/WCSS2006/WCSSmeeting2006.htm

Conference Objectives

In follow-up to the July 2006 meeting, the 2007 conference will review progress achieved in the field of Agrichar production and utilization in the following areas:

Research, Development, and Deployment:
- Review the results of research and development work in the field of Agrichar and energy co-production
- Review demonstration and commercial programs that have been operating in the field
- Identify barriers to commercialization of the Agrichar product and technology, and methods to overcome these barriers
- Visit sites where Agrichar R&D is underway in Australia

Policy and Education Development
- Review new policy and educational initiatives in the field
- Review economic and environmental studies on the costs and benefits of Agrichar production and utilization

Organizational
- Review the goals and tenets of the International Agrichar Initiative
- Review initiatives and progress to establishing an International Agrichar Organization
- Prepare a business and development plan for the International Agrichar Initiative, including specific funding and development proposals, and stated programs goals, timelines
- Prioritize key management questions to be resolved in order to bring the Agrichar agenda to the next stage

Hydrothermal Carbonization, Markus Antoinetti, Max Planck Institute, of Colloids and Interfaces, September 2006