Dear Mike There could be a big problem with heat transfer to the center of the bales. You need a good "design strategy" to ensure that all the straw is raised to the charring temperature.
It is one thing to have access to the straw, but it is another thing to have a market for the char. If you have a big market for the char, perhaps a continuous process would be best. Do you have a market for your excess heat? Best wishes, Kevin ----- Original Message ----- From: YES SIR! To: [email protected] Sent: Tuesday, October 29, 2013 3:55 PM Subject: [Stoves] Biochar retort I am looking to build a GIANT retort. I have an unlimited supply of compressed wheat straw bales (approx. 500,000lbs per yr). They measure 4'x5'x3' and weigh about 400lbs each. I am wanting to build a retort large enough to hold anywhere from 1 to 10 of these bales, probably horizontally. My question is will these bales fully pyrolyze "as is" with perhaps a few inches of airflow on all sides and between bales inside the retort? Thank you, Mike ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ _______________________________________________ Stoves 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/stoves_lists.bioenergylists.org for more Biomass Cooking Stoves, News and Information see our web site: http://stoves.bioenergylists.org/
_______________________________________________ Stoves 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/stoves_lists.bioenergylists.org for more Biomass Cooking Stoves, News and Information see our web site: http://stoves.bioenergylists.org/
