Dear Rebecca
As an ex copra maker I have met the coconut and know it well.
I have made copra by the tons. I know coconut husk and flower shoot and fronds
and shell
Here the husks are generally burned in 3/4/5 wedge sized pieces. After the nuts
are husked
women haul them in from the husking areas and sun dry them in the yards. It is
exhausting back breaking work
Husk is a pretty good mosquito chaser and its low burn temperature make it very
good for cooking rice.
BUT THE SMOKE!!!!
I would like to see a retort system running heat to a copra drier to produce
better copra with out bugs and mold
with coconut shell charcoal for sale as a by product.
In more recent years the has been some switch to your "bucong" of course this
mean no more shell left over.
Splitting husk with shell in to multiple little wedges would be considered a
lot of additional work. Coconut husk it tough stuff. I find slicing off the
leaflets in the field and using the coconut frond mid rib chopped into segments
and split length wise easier. The resulting stick like pieces feed into a
rocket stove easier. The flower spaths are superb rocket stove fuel.
Michael
Marshall Islands
----- Original Message -----
From: Rebecca A. Vermeer
To: ; Michael N. Trevor
Cc: Rebecca A. Vermeer ; Jon Anderson
Sent: Saturday, June 15, 2013 6:30 AM
Subject: Re: [Stoves] : Re: Insulation and stove life
Hello Michael,
Thank you for your suggestions and question. My comments are as follows:
1. I have considered experimenting with high silicate ash from the foot of
Mt. Canlaon, in northern part of Negros Oriental. The ash is free and my
partners with the 11th IB of the Philippine Army in Negros Or. and the Memorial
Elementary School in Canlaon would bring the ash to Dumaguete City. If this
does not work, I’ll follow up on the TLUD route.
2. Jon & Flip Anderson (Aprovecho volunteers) have shown me their work with
insulating bricks to form the combustion chamber in Timor Leste. The
insulating bricks are weak, fragile bricks which require a strong, heavy duty
shell exterior (e.g. cement)to protect the combustion chamber and to support
big cooking pots. I still think that tiny insulating “clay marbles” between
the heavy duty, all clay, fired kalan and combustion chamber is the most
practical way to pursue. I am hopeful Rolf and ECOWORXX can find a way to
produce these insulating clay marbles or pebbles cheaply.
3. For those who have not seen a coconut husk – it is a by-product of COPRA
(mature coconut meat) production. Every 3 months, the coconuts are harvested,
cut into 2 halves, and meat is extracted and dried to make copra. The husk
and inside shell is dried in roof-covered sheds or storage buildings to make
“bucong” – the fuel we use to fire the eco-kalans to 900 degrees Celsius. To
use the “bucong” or coconut husk with shell for fuel in a rocket stove, it is
requires chopping the husk with a machete into narrow wedges (like a
cantaloupe) and a combustion chamber opening as wide and as high (5.5”x5.5”)
as that of the eco-kalan.
Rebecca Vermeer
Eco-Kalan Project in the Philippines
British Columbia, Canada
From: mtrevor
Sent: Friday, June 14, 2013 1:44 AM
To: Discussion of biomass cooking stoves
Subject: Re: [Stoves] : Re: Insulation and stove life
Rebecca
Why not gassify rice hulls in a TLUD and then use the low cristobalite
"tough" high silicate ash to mix your insulation.
Perhaps take a lead fom Aprovecho's play book and fire your liner in multiple
wedge shaped pieces negating the need to break
things up.
How do to "prepare" your coconut husks for use in a rocket stove?
Michael N Trevor
Marshall Islands
From: Rebecca A. Vermeer
To: Paul Olivier
Cc: Jon Anderson ; [email protected]
Sent: Friday, June 14, 2013 8:25 PM
Subject: Re: [Stoves] : Re: Insulation and stove life
Paul,
I currently use wood ash as insulating material between the kalan and
combustion chamber of the eco-kalan (a rocket stove using wood, charcoal,
coconut husk, shell, fronds and other parts of the coconut tree). The
eco-kalan uses 75-85% less firewood and therefore a lot less ash is produced
compared to traditional kalans and other traditional cookstoves in Negros
Oriental, Philippines. A shortage in supply of ash is one fact
or which affects sales of eco-kalan. I have considered making an
insulating material using a 50-50 mix by volume of rice hull & clay in the
form of pellets or bricks which would be broken to pieces after firing. I
would fire the pellets or the bricks along with the eco-kalans up to 900
degrees Celsius. Will there be significant formation of cristobalite under
these conditions? Would handling the fired pellets or the breaking of the
bricks be a health hazard? Thanks,
Rebecca Vermeer
From: Paul Olivier
Sent: Friday, June 14, 2013 12:07 AM
To: Rebecca A. Vermeer
Cc: Jon Anderson ; [email protected] ; larry winiarski
Subject: Re: Fw: [Stoves] : Re: Insulation and stove life
Rebecca,
If we directly burn river hulls, there should be a lot of cristobalite
formed. If we gasify, this problem should be minimized, provided channeling
does not occur. Also there might be cristobalite in the particulate matter in
the combustion gases. With rice hull pellets in a TLUD we have a lot less
channeling, and a lot less particulate matter. Therefore the rice hull pellet
becomes an attractive fuel for these and many other reasons.
Thanks.
Paul Olivier
On Jun 14, 2013 1:44 PM, "Rebecca A. Vermeer" <[email protected]> wrote:
Hello Paul,
Larry just told me that the silica content of rice hull ash is over 90%.
At the ETHOS 2013 Conference, I saw a TURBO stove developed in the Philippines
which used rice hull for fuel. Given your comment below regarding cristobalite
“which is a nasty carcinogen” and severely hazardous to human health (see link
below), would you recommend the use of rice hull as a household fuel for
cookstoves?
Rebecca Vermeer
CRISTOBALITE LINK:
http://nj.gov/health/eoh/rtkweb/documents/fs/1657.pdf
From: Paul Olivier
Sent: Wednesday, June 12, 2013 12:01 AM
To: Discussion of biomass cooking stoves
Subject: Re: [Stoves] : Re: Insulation and stove life
Paal,
One thing I look for on my burner is that all burner holes support a
flame throughout the process. If channeling occurs during the process or if
char is being burned as the process comes to a close, then one can see burner
holes that do not support a flame. This means that CO2 is being discharged from
the burner holes, and of course CO2 does not burn. When CO2 is formed, this
represents a big inefficiency, since combustion takes place far below the pot.
When this happens the sides of the reactor can easily turn red hot and melt. I
do not know how it is possible to spot the presence of CO2 if the top of the
reactor stays open and does not have a lid with burner holes.
If one turns up the fan a bit too high resulting in channeling, it can
happen that only a few holes (among a total of 80 in my case) do not support a
flame. If I turn the fan down a bit and shake the reactor, this problem is
immediately corrected. Also the effect of the presence of CO2 can be spotted by
the cook in another way. The distribution of heat to the pan is not even.
Also many of the positive characteristics of biochar are lost when
biochar is combusted and is reduced to ash. The combustion of biomass and
biochar takes place when channeling occurs, and the combustion of biochar takes
place if the fan is not turned off at the end of the process. Rice hull ash and
rice hill biochar are not at all the same thing when it comes to growing
plants. Also rice hull ash can easily contain cristobalite, which is a nasty
carcinogen. Under ordinary conditions, no farmer should be handling this stuff.
Thanks.
Paul
On Wed, Jun 12, 2013 at 1:06 PM, Paal Wendelbo <[email protected]> wrote:
Ron
By end of flame the color of the char is red to yellow, that indicate a
temperature of 700 to 800 ˚C and when there is no smoke, complete combustion
has taken place. Is that not good for biochar?
Regards Paal W
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Paul A. Olivier PhD
26/5 Phu Dong Thien Vuong
Dalat
Vietnam
Louisiana telephone: 1-337-447-4124 (rings Vietnam)
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