Kobus,
That is great work. Very interesting.
I do not join so many specialty groups, even when interested. I much
prefer that the discussions are open to all via main Listservs such as
Stoves.
I hope you will prepare something that could go onto the Stoves and/or
Biochar and/or DrTLUD websites that anyone can access without joining.
Paul
Paul S. Anderson, PhD aka "Dr TLUD"
Email: [email protected] Skype: paultlud Phone: +1-309-452-7072
Website: www.drtlud.com
On 10/1/2012 8:10 AM, Kobus Venter wrote:
Paul, Tom, Ron, Alex, Crispin, AD and all,
Paul, you have summarized it well, we'll have to see if the actual is
close to the estimate. Yes I am aware that biochar needs to be light
and rigid yet easily crushed and adsorbtion capacity tests would need
to be performed. I understand the basics of the TLUD well and have
also been referred to Hugh's toucan etc, although admittedly I have
never built one like that. As you may have seen from my earlier
pictures I needed to process a large amount of biomass feedstock
without incurring large transportation costs, i.,e transporting
feedstock to the kiln. I was processing about 80 tons of 6 - 8 weeks
dry feedstock (invasive aliens aka Working for Water) in my most
productive month. Because of the non-uniform nature of the feedstock,
TLUD's were not considered and not sure if an upscaled TLUD would have
been up to the challenge. In my situation mobility was paramount. The
rugged and steep terrain required the 6 kilns to be transported in
dissembled sections up the mountain side on the back of a LDV (small
truck). For biochar end use, once assembled (with bolts, no welding)
the Transportable Kiln is fitted with flanges top and bottom (hammered
into place), 3 sealable 55 gal drums are lowered and wedged in with
central cone to keep them in place. The kiln (along with the 3 x 55
gal drums) are rolled as one unit into position on preselected leveled
out terrain. The kiln and conical lid would typically only be rolled
30 or 40 metres every 4 days or so to work through the piles of
timber. To extract the biochar the the kiln is pushed over onto its side.
I hereby extend an invitation to anyone on this list to join my
Portable Kiln Google Group
http://groups.google.co.uk/group/portable-kiln Just ask to join with
your reason for joining - if I know your name you probably don't have
to give me a reason. I think Ron and Yury are already members from
this stove group.
Have not had much feedback from others because not many have built
them yet, but I have posted all my findings and even some kiln plans
so everyone gets off the ground with a standard kiln.
Regards
Kobus
*******************************************************************************************************************
Dear Kobus and all,
Retort: When 50/50 inner and outer amounts of fuel as Kobus has
mentioned: the Outer burning XX kg yields zero biochar; Inside retort
yields 20 to 30& of XX kg, net of 10 to 15% of total fuel used.
(Note: charcoal yields from inside a retort of greater than 25 or 30%
indicate considerable volatile matter is in the charcoal, which is not
generally considered good for the plants/soils. Beware of charcoal
that is 40+% of original fuel weight. It will burn in a charcoal stove
probably with some limited smoke, but is not good as biochar.)
TLUD: One batch, expect about 20% yield by weight. Nearly double the
net weight output, and not needing double barrels, etc.
Fines are a result of size of feedstock. If making biochar, fines are
fine (pun intended). Or fines can be briquetted quite easily if sold
to the charcoal market.
Biggest problem I see with many attempts to make TLUD-style
barrel-size charcoal makers is the poor quality of the lid or top to
allow in secondary air that goes to the concentrator hole. If this
sentence does not make sense to someone, then that person has not
studied the basics of TLUD operation.
Users should start with small TLUDs (like McLaughlin's "1-G Toucan"
out of tincans - plans are on the web) so that they know that the TLUD
fires CAN and should be very clean burning. There is no reason to have
smoky TLUDs when using 200 liter barrels unless using wet fuel or not
yet adjusting the TLUD to the fuel at hand.
Paul
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