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Charcoal production, links

http://www.fao.org/docrep/X5328e/x5328e00.htm#Contents

IntroductionChapter 1 - Logistics of charcoal production
1.1. Developing a fuelwood and charcoal energy policy
1.2. The energy balance concept
1.3. Calculating an energy balance
1.4. Unit processes of charcoal production
1.4.1. What is charcoal?
1.4.2. Unit processes of charcoal-making
Chapter 2 - Growing the wood raw material
2.1. Forest management and fuelwood supply
2.2. Natural forest for fuelwood
2.3. Forest types for charcoal-making
2.4. Fuelwood plantations
2.5. Cost of plantation establishment
2.5.1. Land price
2.5.2. Reforestation
2.6. Fundamental factors in fuelwood supply
Chapter 3 - Harvesting and transporting fuelwood
3.1. Key factors in harvesting and transport
3.2. Laying out a charcoal production area
3.3. Equipment for harvesting and transport
3.3.1. Felling and block preparation
3.3.2. Drying of fuelwood
3.3.3. The role of Government in maintaining forest productivity.
3.3.4. Description of a fuelwood harvesting operation.
Chapter 4 - Carbonisation processes
4.1. How wood is transformed into charcoal
4.2. Industrial safety in carbonization
4.3. Incentives and labour management
Chapter 5 - Earth pits for charcoal making
5.1. The pit method
5.1.1. Making charcoal in miniature pits
5.1.2. Making charcoal in large pits
5.2. Technical and cost data for pit charcoal production
Chapter 6 - Making charcoal in earth mounds
6.1. Types of mound
6.2. Making a typical mound or earth kiln
6.3. Casamance kiln
6.4. Collecting tar from the Casamance kiln
6.5. Cost of charcoal produced by the Casamance earth mound (from experience in Senegal)
6.6. The Swedish earth kiln with chimney
Chapter 7 - Brick kilns
7.1. The half-orange Argentine kiln
7.1.1. Preparation of the site
7.1.2. Design and construction
7.1.3. Fuelwood
7.1.4. Loading
7.1.5. Operation
7.1.6. Bricks
7.2. The Brazilian beehive kiln
7.2.1. Design
7.2.2. Construction
7.3. Slope type beehive kiln
7.3.1. The construction of slope type kiln
7.3.2. Maintenance of the kiln
7.4. The Missouri kiln
7.4.1. Design
7.4.2. Construction
7.4.3. Operation
7.4.4. The Missouri type kiln in the developing world
7.5. Charcoal production centres
7.5.1. Operational cycle of a seven kiln charcoal battery
7.5.2. Operating instructions for beehive brick kilns
7.5.3. Carbonization in slope type kilns
Chapter 8 - Metal kilns
8.1. Available designs of transportable metal kilns
8.2. Metal charcoal kiln made from oil drums
8.3. Advantages and disadvantages of transportable metal kilns
8.4. Manufacture of the TPI metal kiln
8.5. The transportation and location of kilns
8.6. Selection and preparation of site
8.7. Preparation of the raw material
8.8. Method of operating the TPI kiln
8.8.1. Tools required for a 2-3 man operation:
8.8.2. Assembly and loading the kiln
8.8.3. Lighting the kiln.
8.8.4. Reducing the draught
8.8.5. Control of charring
8.8.6. Unloading the kiln
8.8.7. Bagging of charcoal
8.9. Alternative method of operation
8.9.1. Loading
8.9.2. Lighting
8.9.3. Reducing the draught
8.10. Schedule for commercial operation
8.11. The most common operational faults
8.12. Yields of charcoal
8.13. Working life of transportable metal kilns
Chapter 9 - Transport, storage and distribution of charcoal
9.1. Unit operations in transport of charcoal
9.2. Good practice in charcoal protection and storage
9.3. Transport of charcoal in the iron and steel industry
9.3.1. Truck transport
9.3.2. Transport by rail
9.3.3. Aerial rope or cableway transport
9.3.4. Mule packs
9.3.5. Water
9.4. Distribution of charcoal
9.4.1. Charcoal properties
9.4.2. Stockholding
Chapter 10 - Using charcoal efficiently
10.1. The quality of charcoal.
10.1.1. Moisture content
10.1.2. Volatile matter other than water
10.1.3. Fixed carbon content
10.1.4. Ash content
10.1.5 Typical charcoal analyses
10.1.6. Physical properties
10.1.7. Adsorption capacity
10.2. Burning charcoal efficiently 10.2.1. How charcoal burns
Chapter 11 - Briquetting of charcoal
11.1. Properties of charcoal fines
11.2. The techniques of briquetting
11.3. Economics of briquetting
11.4. Briquetting as a cottage industry
11.5. Using fine charcoal without briquetting
Chapter 12 - Recovery of by-products from hardwood carbonization
12.1. Proligneous acid
12.1.1. The yield of pyroligneous acid
12.1.2. Refining pyroligneous acid
12.2. Small scale recovery of tars 12.2.1. Collecting the tar
Chapter 13 - Comparative performance of carbonization systems
13.1. Performance indices of carbonising equipment
13.2. Influence of wood characteristics on carbonization methods
13.2.1. Species
13.2.2. Moisture content
13.2.3. Wood size
Chapter 14 - Problems of economics and cost control in charcoal production
14.1. Economic analysis and cost control
14.2. The methods of economic project analysis
14.3. Cost control in established enterprises
14.3.1. The unit operations
14.3.2. Unit costs and budgeting
14.3.3. Supervision and management overheads
Appendix 1 - Building and Operating the Brazilian Beehive Kiln*
1. Building
2. Operation
Discharging of the kiln must start only when it is sufficiently cool.
Appendix 2 - Building a T.P.I. Steel Kiln*
1. Description
2. Manufacture
Appendix 3 - Building and operating the Argentine Half Orange KilnAppendix 4 - Useful conversion factorsReferences*FAO technical papers




Crtical Analysis of the projects done by http://www.holon.se/folke/carbon/charring_links.shtml

There are a multitude of methods of charcoal making. The only necessity is that the basic requirements are fulfilled. When charring for removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, it is important to recall that the emissions from the charring shall not contain methane, because it is an even worse (22 times!) greenhouse gas than carbon dioxde.
Although methane has a much shorter half-time in the atmosphere than the carbon dioxide (12 years vs. hundreds of years), there are no reasons to make evil worse. Charring is a knowledge as old as the knowledge of making fire. I will roughly start with he more primitive methods, go on with small scale, home garden methods and end up with large semi-industrial or industrial methods. One should recall that charcoal making is a large occupation all over the world, because charcoal is excellent for firing, rather smokeless and easy to handle.

'Primitive' methods, no emission reducion

Charcoal Making at Home Charcoal making 2007, Flickr Comparing simple charcoal production technologies Make your own charcoal in an oil drum Making your own charcoal Traditional Earth-Mount Kiln

Simple methods with emission reduction, for the backyard

Bamboo Charcoal Making Charcoal kiln of oil drums Charcoal making, indirect retort method Charcoal retort Convert Wood into Charcoal & Electricity Household Energy How to make a charcoal-making kiln Puffergas The simplest of the simple, my own backyard method. Retort. Stove for cooking, too.

Methods for a small community or a village

Charcoal Production, Low or High volume charcoal production in refractory lined kilns Continuous carbonizations system for light and small pieces of biomass Low-cost retort kiln Making charcoal: The retort method Manufacturing and Marketing Natural Lump Charcoal

Industrial methods

Ekolon plan Continous producion closed retort charcoal reactor Lambiotte retort

Companies

Adam + Partner Advanced Biorefinery Inc. Agri-therm, Ltd. Alterna energy Airless-Systems Appropriate Rural Technology Institute Australian Biochars Best Pyrolysis, Inc Biocarbo Bioenergy Bioware Biopact Carbon Diversion Technologies Cleanfuels Dynamotive Energy Systems Corporation Envipower AS eGenesis Industries Eprida Ensyn Corporation International K&K Enterprise Lambiotte & Cie Newearth Renewable Energy Pronatura Renewable Oil Corporation, Australia Renewable Oil International, USA Russian-Swedish Bioenergy Information and Training Center Terra Humana Clean Technology Topell Wyssmont Terra Preta list: Companies producing agrichar and agrichar technologies - More information about almost all the above companies

Youtube videos

Charcoal producing Micro Gasifier Hybrid Stove Making Charcoal Making Charcoal - drum retort Mr Charcoal - video #1 - video # 2 Modern charcoal producing stove with heated 2nd air The popup stove

Resources

The Biochar Fund Changes in Composition and Porosity Occurring During the Thermal Degradation of Wood and Wood Components, USGS Charcoalab - methods for teaching Charcoal production for carbon sequestration Charcoal Stability and Storage in Soil Comparing simple charcoal production technologies for the Caribbean RENEWABLE CARBON, Biomass Charcoal, Activated Carbon Simple technologies for charcoal making,FAO

TerraCarbona, International Center for Biochar Research and Experiments Terra Preta bioenergy list resource page Terra Preta Google group resource page

Discussion groups

Biochar Ontario Making charcoal, Science forums Terra Preta, Intentional use of Charcoal in Soil Yahoo Group on Biochar use and production "The production and use of biochar at the individual and farm scale including investigations to determine the effectiveness of using charcoal to enhance soil fertility." Yahoo Group on Biochar as climate amendment Using Biochar in soil as a method of sequestering carbon and addressing the problems of Climate Change and Global Warming. Terra Preta Google group Naturally, the ordering above has large flaws, becauce the content often belongs to more than one heading. If you are interested, you should look them all through and decide which method that suits you.