Tom Miles et al I once prepared (for a bet with Alex English) bags of biomass with 0,5,10,...30% moisture. I ran all,of them in a TLUD stove. They all ran, but the 30% moisture had a purple blue flame instead of yellow, and gave a very low charcoal yield, <5%.
I presume almost of all of the charcoal formed in the first layer was consume drying the second layer, etc. But I managed to burn even 30%. So, I presume with a blanket to conserve heat you could burn fresh slash up to a high moisture content, but how high would be a guess. Tom Reed Dr Thomas B Reed The Biomass Energy Foundation www.Woodgas.com On Dec 19, 2011, at 2:15 PM, "Tom Miles" <[email protected]> wrote: > Tom, > > If you prepare a slash pile with the right fuel density then you can light it > off as you describe. Can we use the blanket instead of the water to control > the temperature by reducing oxygen to the pile? > > Slash will have a higher moisture content. Will the blanket allow the PYROMID > to operate with fuels at higher MC? > > Tom > > From: [email protected] > [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Thomas > Reed > Sent: Monday, December 19, 2011 11:01 AM > To: Discussion of biomass pyrolysis and gasification > Subject: Re: [Gasification] gasifier type updraft > > Dear Tom Miles > > Typically if you pile scrap wood into a dense pyramid and light the top > layer, the advancing pyrolysis front will supply a protective combustible gas > envelope which has had the oxygen removed. I call this the Pyromid method of > charcoal production. > > (There is also a stove on the market called a Pyromid Stove. So it is > useful to make sure to call this a "Charcoal Pyromid".) > > If this CHARCOAL PYROMID is allowed to burn down until the yellow flames > disappear, only charcoal will remain. Squirt a lot of water on it and stand > by to squirt more and you'll have about 20% charcoal yield. If you go in for > lunch, some spark will ignite the charcoal and you have wood ash when you > return. > > If your fuel pyramid is not tightly stacked, air oxygen will pass up into the > charcoal bed and reduce the yield. If the wood is too large or too dry or > you use enhanced oxygen it will be too easy for the flame to propagate down > and you won't completely convert the fuel Pyromid to a charcoal Pyromid. > > Happy charring... > > Tom Reed > > Dr Thomas B Reed > The Biomass Energy Foundation > www.Woodgas.com > > On Dec 17, 2011, at 11:00 AM, "Tom Miles" <[email protected]> wrote: > > Tom, > > The pyromid looks like a good in-woods approach to converting slash to > biochar. > > Do you think that the pyrolysis blanket that is being developed by Carbon > Cultures (Jenny Knoth U Washington) can be used to improve the performance of > the pyromid? > > See video and story at: > http://www.slideshare.net/sblank/carbon-cultures-corps-final > http://www.igert.org/stories/90 > http://depts.washington.edu/bioenrgy/ > http://www.myscience.us/wire/turning_slash_piles_into_soil_benefit-2011-washington > > Thanks > > Tom Miles > > From: [email protected] > [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Thomas > Reed > Sent: Saturday, December 17, 2011 6:43 AM > To: Discussion of biomass pyrolysis and gasification; STOVES > Subject: Re: [Gasification] gasifier type updarft use rice husk > > Dear gassers and Stovers > > Using any size TLUD device including an open PYROMID, and any junk biomass, > we all have easy access to as much charcoal as we could ever need, for the > first time in history. > > Furthermore, Hugh McLaughlin tells me that, while it's not true activated > charcoal, made with steam or CO2 at 800C, it has significant absorption > capacity (iodine no 400?) since it is made at 500-800 C. I hope Hugh or > Frank will comment. > > So we really have no excuse for cleaning up TLUD gas if we wish to. > > I'm waiting for a good analysis of TLUD gas. I suspect after cleaning it > will have significantly more energy than the typical 5.5 MJ/m3 or 150 Btu/ > scf of downdraft Woodgas, since the air fuel ratio for pyrolysis is only > 1-1.5, rather than the 3.5 for complete gasification of the cellulose lignin > package that is wood. So, as a first guess, with 1/3 the A/F ratio, I'm > guessing 3x the energy content, of 4.5 MJ/m3 or 450 Btu/scf. Compare to > natural gas at 1000 Btu/ scf. > > I'd sure like to see some comments from all you practical guys (and dolls?) > out there. > > Onward > > Tom Reed. Dr WoodGas > > > > > Dr Thomas B Reed > The Biomass Energy Foundation > www.Woodgas.com > > > > > _______________________________________________ > Gasification mailing list > > to Send a Message to the list, use the email address > [email protected] > > to UNSUBSCRIBE or Change your List Settings use the web page > http://lists.bioenergylists.org/mailman/listinfo/gasification_lists.bioenergylists.org > > for more Gasifiers, News and Information see our web site: > http://gasifiers.bioenergylists.org/ > _______________________________________________ > Gasification mailing list > > to Send a Message to the list, use the email address > [email protected] > > to UNSUBSCRIBE or Change your List Settings use the web page > http://lists.bioenergylists.org/mailman/listinfo/gasification_lists.bioenergylists.org > > for more Gasifiers, News and Information see our web site: > http://gasifiers.bioenergylists.org/
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