Bio Char Options

Open Area
 Not to windy
 Access for truck deliveries
 Exhaust won’t disturb
people or livestock
Low Tech Methods for Making Biochar
Metal Needed Method
1 Drum Drum
2 GI or tin cans Stoves- gasifier/rocket
3 GI Sheet/steel plates
Metal cone - Clean Kiln Designs -FC flame cap / flame
curtain (FC) -Top Fed Open Draft FC units
4 Drums/GI Furnace/ ovens/ retorts
5 Steel matting/cage Top Light Up Draft Cage [TLUD]
6 Optional Open Rice Hull (Ipa) Piles
7 None Peter Hirst's Conservation Burn technique [Also TLUD]

Biochar is the result of
Pyrolysis
[fire – separating]

Terra Preta
Dark Earth
Amazonian Dark Earths
"Terra Preta de Indio"
Indian Black Earth is the local name for certain
dark earths in the Brazilian Amazon region.
Unknown methods of biochar production where
utilized via pyrolysis in the forest: some form of
“sustainable” slash and char developed huge areas
for food production.
These dark earths occur in several countries in
South America and Europe and Eastern USA. In
the Amazon it was created by pre-Columbian
Indians from 500 to 2500 years B.P. and
abandoned after the invasion of Europeans.

1658 Johann Rudolf Glauber confirmed that the acid contained in pyroligneous water was the same
acid contained in vinegar (Emrich, 1985; Klark, 1925).
1661 The separation of a spirituous liquid from volatile products of wood distillation was described
by Robert Boyle (Klark, 1925).

http://www.familiamission.org/blog/activated-biochar

LIGNIN
The complex amorphous organic component of
wood that acts as the binder between cells and
is responsible for its rigidity. It decomposes very
slowly by microbial action.

Wood that has been seasoned for 9-12 months still contains about 20-25% moisture, most of which is
wood resins. These resins play an important part in the three stages of wood combustion.

Stage 1 - the kindling fire warms up the fresh load of wood and any remaining water content is
removed by evaporation and vaporization.
Seasoned Wood

Stage 2 - As the wood reaches 500 degrees the resins begin to break down chemically, and volatile
gases are released which squirt out through the wood fiber and ignite, boosting the temperature of the
fire to around 1,100 degrees and producing 50-60% of the heat value from that load of wood.
Seasoned Wood

Stage 3 - As the gases burn away, the flames finally attack the wood fiber itself, and extract the
remaining heat value through the process known as charcoaling.
Seasoned Wood
Heat + charcoal

Stage 3 - As the gases burn away, the flames finally attack the wood fiber itself, and extract the
remaining heat value through the process known as charcoaling.
Seasoned Wood
Heat + charcoal
More heat + ash

If your firewood has dried to the point where it has lost its resin content, your
fire will go directly from Stage 1 (warming up to combustion temperature) to
Stage 3 (charcoaling), skipping Stage 2 and missing out on 50-60% of the heat
(and burn time) you'd expect to get from that load of wood

A. C. A. P.
Biochar:
Activated
Charged
Aged
Piled (or bagged)

Pyrolysis is a thermochemical
decomposition of organic material
at elevated temperatures in the
absence of oxygen. It involves the
simultaneous change of chemical
composition and physical phase,
and is irreversible. The word is
coined from the Greek-derived
elements pyro "fire" and lysis
"separating".
Biochar is the result of
Pyrolysis
[fire – separating]

1792 England commercialized luminating gas manufactured from wood (Klark, 1925). 1812 Taylor
showed that methyl alcohol was present in the liquid obtained from the
distillation of pyroligneous water (Klark, 1925).
1819 The first pyrolysis oven to transfer heat through its metal walls was designed by
Carl Reichenbach (Klark, 1925).

“A Dictionary Of Modern Gardening”, by George William Johnson, David
Landreth, 1847.
Charcoal Soot, a chief constituent of which is charcoal, has long been known
as a very effective fertilizer;
https://turkeysong.wordpress.com/2012/05/18/some-citations-on-biochar-in-europe-and-america-in-the-19th-century/

1835 Methyl alcohol, an isolated product of crude wood spirit, was discovered by Jean
Baptiste Andre Dumas and Eugene Peligot which confirmed Taylor’s ideas on the nature of
pyroligneous acid (Klark, 1925).
1850 Horizontal retorts (1 meter diameter, and 3 meters long) were used mainly by Germany,
England, and Austria, while the French were becoming more inclined to the use of vertical retorts
made portable by Robiquete (Klark, 1925).
1856 An increase in demand for methyl alcohol was a result of Sr. William H. Perkin’s patent on
aniline purple (Klark, 1925).
1864 The discovery of iodine increased the demand for wood spirits (Klark, 1925). 1870 Early
investigations performed by Tobias Lowitz resulted in a new, chemically
pure acetic acid (Klark, 1925).

The American wheat culturist: a practical treatise on the
culture of wheat … 1868
Charcoal Dust As A Fertilizer. Charcoal is composed almost
entirely of pure carbon; and when small fragments are exposed
to the influences of the weather, they undergo very little change
during a long term of years. Still the roots of growing plants will
lay hold of the small pieces of charcoal, and appropriate the
substance contained in the coal to the growth and development
of the stems, leaves, and seeds of grain, fruit, and vegetables.
Experienced chemists assure us, charcoal, and particularly
charcoal dust, has the power of attracting and fixing large
quantities of ammonia, a substance which enters largely into the
formation of useful plants, and of retaining this fertilizing material
when buried in the soil, until the fine fibres of the roots of growing
plants require it for promoting their growth.

1870 The rise of the celluloid industry and the manufacture of smokeless powder
increased the demand for acetone (Klark, 1925).
1880 The wood distillation industry began to expand (Klark, 1925).
1920-1950 The rise of the petroleum industry caused a decline in wood distillation (Klark,
1925).
1970 Oil Crisis gave rise to the need for alternative liquid fuels.
1970-90s Development of new pyrolysis reactors occurred side by side with the
understanding of the fundamentals of biomass pyrolysis reactions (Boroson et al., Bridgwater et al.,
1994; 1989 a, b; Evans et al., 1987 a, b; Mottocks, 1981, Piskortz et al., 1988a, b; Scott et al.,
1984, 1988).

Thai Charcoal Kiln
Charcoal As A Manure 1860………..
Liebig gives the results of a series of experiments by Lukas on
the use of charcoal as a manure, which seem to corroborate his
opinion. From the facts which these chemists, however, adduce,
it is evident that the beneficial action of charcoal, as a fertilizer,
depends upon the presence of other substances besides carbon.
Liebig notes (Organic Chem., p. 62) that “plants thrive in
powdered charcoal, and may be brought to blossom, and bear
fruit, if exposed to the influence of the rain and the atmosphere.
Plants do no not, however, attain maturity under ordinary
circumstances in charcoal powder when they are moistened with
pure distilled water instead of rain or river water. Rain water
must, therefore, contain within it one of the essentials of
vegetable life; and it has been shown that this is the presence of
a compound containing nitrogen; the exclusion of which entirely
deprives humus and charcoal of their influence on vegetation. It
is ammonia, to

Clean Kiln
Designs
Top Fed Open Draft FC units

Clean Kiln Designs
Appropriate Technology

Clean Kiln Designs

Top Light Up Draft
TLUD Pile
Lumber yard waste

Clean Kiln Designs
Bent and bolted GI sheet

Clean Kiln Designs
Top Feed Metal Cone

T.L.U.D.
Top Light Up Draft
Peter Hirst's Conservation Burn technique
T.L.O.B.
Top Light Open Burn

T.L.U.D.
Top Light Up DraftAppropriate Technology
Make Fuel Cube
H = L = W

T.L.U.D.
Top Light Up Draft
Wind baffle

T.L.U.D.
Top Light Up Draft
Water moisture removal

T.L.U.D.
Top Light Up Draft
Harvest

T.L.U.D.
Top Light UpDraft
T.L.O.B.
Top Light Open Burn
Make Fuel Cube
H = L = W

T.L.U.D.
Top Light UpDraft

Details of this BioChar
Burn:
Material: young douglas
fir and ponderosa pine
saplings 2-5” in diameter
Moisture content:
estimated 20-50%. Sat
on ground for one year.
Date burned: May 4,
2014
Size of pile: about 5 feet
square cube, estimated
2000 lb
Biochar yield: about 60
gallons(8 cu ft)
http://www.technorcalnotes.com/biochar

Cut and carry goat feed
Legume trees and shrubs

Cut and carry goat feed
Low smoke, high yield:
1. Uniform diameter
2. Uniform length
3. Cubical (H = L = W)
4. Keep fire on top

T.L.U.D.
Top Light UpDraft
Conservation burn
T.L.O.B.
Top Light Open Burn

T.L.U.D.
Top Light UpDraft
Conservation burn
Very little smoke
T.L.O.B.
Top Light Open Burn

Still very little smoke
T.L.O.B.
Top Light Open Burn

Douse with water
T.L.O.B.
Top Light Open Burn

Charge with:
EME
FAA
Compost tea
W.S.C.

10:02 AM
TLOB
Migratory Pyrolytic Front (MPF)

10:13 AM
TLOB

Pyrolysis @ 700º C
10:25 AM
TLOB

Pyrolysis @ 700º C
10:32 AM
TLOB

10:42 AM
TLOB
Activating with water

Charging with EM and compost tea
10:58 AM

Bagged and ready for raised beds
11:10 AM
1 cu M dead fall wood
280 L biochar

Wigwam method for termite
infested wood cuts

1. Similar size materials
2. Top Light Up Draft
3. Proportional dimensions

Top Light Up Draft
TLUD Cage

Top Light Up Draft
TLUD Cage
High carbon
Crop residues

Top Light Up Draft
TLUD Cage
Coco Husk

Top Light Up Draft
TLUD Cage
Coco Husk char

Top Light Up Draft
TLUD Pile
Coconut leaves/waste

Top Light Up Draft
TLUD Pile
Bamboo waste

Top Light Up Draft
TLUD Pile
Roofing waste

Top Light Up Draft
TLUD Pile
Cut and carry waste
From goat farm

Traditional method:
The nightly Sweep n’ Smolder
1. Wasteful
2. Inefficient
3. Legal

Illegal Squatter Pile
1. Wasteful
2. Inefficient
3. Illegal

Traditional method:
Mound kiln
1. Wasteful
2. Inefficient
3. Labor intensive
4. Legal

1. Wasteful
2. Inefficient
3. Legal
Landfill method

Top Light Up Draft
TLUD Pile
Clean kiln design

Fertilizer from lumber yard waste

Sustainable agriculture: the efficient conversion of land’s by-products back into food.

“Modern agriculture: the use of land to convert petroleum into food.”

Biochar
Keith Mikkelson
Mik@mozcom.com

Terra Preta
Dark Earth
Amazonian Dark Earths
"Terra Preta de Indio"
Indian Black Earth is the local name
for certain dark earths in the Brazilian
Amazon region.
These dark earths occur in several
countries in South America and
Europe and Eastern USA. In the
Amazon it was created by pre-
Columbian Indians from 500 to 2500
years B.P. and abandoned after the
invasion of Europeans.

Pyrolysis is a
thermochemical
decomposition of
organic material at
elevated temperatures in
the absence of oxygen
(or any halogen). It
involves the simultaneous
change of chemical
composition and physical
phase, and is irreversible.
The word is coined from
the Greek-derived
elements pyro "fire" and
lysis "separating".

More CO and CO2 than biochar
Appropriate Technology?

surcosqochasAmphitheater terraces:
SOUTH AMERICA

The sketch, of a small portion of the plateau, shows
how the qochas were linked to one another, through
an extensive network of canals. Twin circles are
'mother qochas'. (from: Erickson, 2000)

Terra Preta
1. Typically, the ability of soils to retain cations
in an exchangeable and thus plant-available
form (cation exchange capacity [CEC])
increases in proportion to the amount of soil
organic matter
• Biochar has an even greater ability
than other soil organic matter to adsorb
cations per unit carbon due to its
greater surface area,
• greater negative surface charge
• greater charge density
2. Biochar appears to be able to strongly
adsorb phosphate, even though it is an
anion, although the mechanism for this
process is not fully understood.
3. These properties make biochar a unique
substance, retaining exchangeable and
therefore plant-available nutrients in the soil,
and offering the possibility of improving crop
yields while decreasing environmental
pollution by nutrients considerably
Radically transforms soils
I.R.R.I.
PhilRice

Industrial Biochar
50% of 50% is virtually permanent carbon fixation

SiteRice Hull
 Open Area
 Not too windy
 Exhaust won’t disturb people or livestock
4 Low Tech Methods to Making Biochar
1. Open Rice Hull (Ipa) Piles
2. Stoves
3. Furnace ovens
4. Drum

Fertilizer/Feed-Grain Terms
Grade Name Filipino Waste Source Carbon/Nitrogen
• [D4] Rice Hull Ipa, From high -
Labhang Dehusking carbon
• [D3] Crushed Rice Magaspang from beltway high carbon/
Hull some nitrogen
• [D2] Rice Bran Darak from cleaning some carbon/
some nitrogen
• [D1] Rice Bran Tiki Tiki from polishing high protein-
nitrogen
D1
for feed
$
$$
$$$
$$$$
D4
for uling

[D 2] is inferior to
[D1] but can be
supplemented with
more fish meal
Feed-Grain Selection
[D 1] [D 3]
[D 4][D 2]
Puting
Bigas –
white rice
Pinawa –
Unpolished
rice
[D 4]
[D 2]
Kanin –
white rice
Palay
PalaySmall
Mill
Large
Mill
Small Mill
Remedy
You can lose
many Pesos
without the
right feed
stock

Cooking charcoal
as a by-product

CRH Production
• Start core fire with
wood

CRH Production
wood
• Add rice hull to
smother

CRH Production
wood
smother
• Watch for venting

CRH Production
wood
smother
• Smother blackened
hulls

HARVESTING
wood
smother
• Smother blackened
hulls
• Harvest by spraying
water through pile

http://cru.cahe.wsu.edu/CEPublications/
FS147E/FS147E.pdf

Operation of Charcoal
Oven
14. Install bamboo pipe
with wet cloth
15. Collect vinegar

Congratulations!
Expect 20-22% recovery by weight

We know of no readily available in-field pyrolyzers that meet our specs.
Warm Heart offers two:
FU2: 3.4 m3 capacity, Type I or II feed stocks; moved and
assembled by 2 men; fits in small pickup with room for quenching
water tank and biochar; burn time corn stalk 15 minutes, cob 80
minutes; yield 18%
FU3 prototype: Actual will
have 7.7 m3 capacity,
assumed to be Type II only,
moved and assembled by
3 men; fits in pickup;
anticipated yield, 25%
Type II pyrolyzers

USES
• Potting soil
• Bokashi
• Soil amendment
• Livestock bedding
• Livestock feed
• Bokashi Bombs
(Mud Balls)
• Vermiculture
Feedstock
(They produce a
natural pelletized
Terra Preta)

Ancient Inoculation Method
Sustainable Agriculture

Inoculation Comparison
• Takes advanced
management and time
• No guarantee of results
• Cultures can have
contamination
• P 60/ backpack sprayer
• Simple management
• Little time
• Guaranteed results
• Cultures will be pure
• P 1/ backpack sprayer

Soil Blocks
•Save space
•Minimize transplant shock

Universal Mix
1/4 Soil
1/4 Sand
1/4 Vermicast
1/4 Uling na ipa

BOKASHI:
Fermented Rice Hull Charcoal
(EM, Kitchen Waste, etc)

Vermiculture Feedstock
(They produce a natural
pelletized Terra Preta)

Vermicast close up
Vermiculture: The African
Night crawler produces a
natural pelletized Terra Preta

 Open Area
 Not to windy
 Exhaust won’t disturb
people or livestock
Low Tech Methods for Making Biochar
Metal Needed Method
1 Drum Drum
2 GI or tin cans Stoves
3 GI Sheet/steel plates Metal cone - Clean Kiln Designs
4 Drums/GI Furnace/ ovens/ retorts
5 Steel matting Top Light Up Draft Cage [TLUD]
6 Optional Open Rice Hull (Ipa) Piles
7 None Peter Hirst's Conservation Burn technique [Also TLUD]

Bio Char Options

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Bio Char Options