Dear Andrew
Very interesting possible explanation for why "spent agricultural lime"
helps with the anaerobic retting process!
While Ca(OH)2, or "Hydrated lime" can have a pH as high as about 12.5, and
is indeed very caustic, CaCO3 or "Limestone", "agriculture lime, "land
lime", has a pH in the range of about 8, which is not very caustic at all
Is there perhaps another possibility, that being that a marginal change in
alkalinity favours growth of different bacteria?
More specifically, is it perhaps the minor change in pH is "shifting the bug
balance", rather than making local chemistry harsher? In other words, are
the "retting fungus forms" more favoured with slightly higher pH, while the
fungus forms that consume cellulose are repressed?
Best wishes,
Kevin
----- Original Message -----
From: <[email protected]>
To: "Discussion of biomass cooking stoves" <[email protected]>
Sent: Saturday, August 04, 2012 2:04 PM
Subject: Re: [Stoves] material processing for briquettes few tips
ontechnique
On Fri, 3 Aug 2012 10:32:14 -0700, Richard Stanley wrote:
If processed correctly, natural fibers will flex and then tend to
interlock once blended with other materials in a water slurry.
One does not achieve this by simple chopping or even direct use of the
fiber without some form of softening (thru partial decompsition, in a hot
humid anerobic environment, (under such as a black plastic bag), or as we
are learning from our Mayan colleagues in Guatemala, use of agricultural
lime (which is traditionally discarded after its use in hot water to
soften and de-shell their corn kernals).
As always I find your posts on briquetting educational.
Alkalis, lime being calcium hydroxide, dissolve lignin and I expect
this is what the bugs do in retting fibres out of the stem
(simplistically wood rotting fungi can be classified into brown, white
and soft rots, the white rots attack lignin and leave the cellulose,
brown eat the cellulose and soft rots invade all the cells), it's
lignin that hold all the stringy fibres together. So I can see how
lime would separate out the fibres.
Your observation that the bugs work better in anaerobic conditions
may be that this is what favours a white rot. Flax sheaves where laid
in a water filled ditch to ret.
I may have missed something in Rok's post: Rok mentions 16cms diameter
briquettes with a 5 cms hole, I take it it is the length he is varying
between 3-12 cms and favouring a length of between 5 and 7cms?
AJH
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