Failing to make Charcoal

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Failing to make Charcoal
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Lloyd

Joined: 24 Jan 2005
Posts: 2699

Posted: Sun May 01, 05 9:46 am Post subject:
Treacs, how did you do yours?

Treacodactyl
Downsizer Moderator

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 25795
Location: Jumping on the bandwagon of opportunism

Posted: Sun May 01, 05 10:01 am Post subject:

It's not worth mentioning as it was only a back garden experiment. All I did was use an old 2.5kg tomato tin filled with 1 inch pieces of wood. When I finished using the bbq I placed the remains of the charcoal on top of the tin. Then turned the tin upside down.

The results were not that bad, the bottom inch of the wood was burnt away and the top one still wood but the middle four were acceptable charcoal. I use the wood/charcoal the next day and no smoke was given off and they lasted well.

Have you seen Ben Law's 'The Woodland Way' book? It covers many products from the wood and details charcoal.

I've not seen much on how large or small charcoal kilns need to be as your oil drum would seem the ideal tool for small scale production.

One thing though, if you try another barrel I'd suggest finding a better way to make holes in it or you may end up spending a few months away from your wood.

trigfa

Joined: 06 Apr 2005
Posts: 189
Location: Llangernyw, North Wales

Posted: Sun May 01, 05 11:22 am Post subject:
From the article: "We created airflow holes in the barrel base, using buckshot cartridges as we had no suitable tools in the wood!!" Thats a relief, when I saw the photo I thought it was to deal with anyone who might be tempted to help themselves to some free charcoal Very interesting article....

judyofthewoods

Joined: 29 Jan 2005
Posts: 804
Location: Pembrokeshire

Posted: Sun May 01, 05 12:29 pm Post subject:

Charcoal has many uses, though some would probably require very controlled specialised methods of production, not to mention scale, i.e. for medical and industrial use, for filters (activated charcoal - don't ask) and more. I use charcoal if ever I have an upset stomach/belly, used to chew a small piece, but that was rather unpleasant, so I went the siss's way and bought some charcoal tablets from the chemist, cheap and very effective, it can help in mild poisoning (e.g. off food) and help with gas cramps in the intestine.
Another unusual use for charcoal, one I will experiment with is adding small grains of it to the soil. There was a very interesting Horizon program a while ago about fertile soil in the Amazon jungle, found in the search for Eldorado. Here the transcript. https://www.bbc.co.uk/science/horizon/2002/eldoradotrans.shtml
If you are only interested in the charcoal bit skip most of the transcript, its only a bit at the end. Anyway, in another article online on making charcoal for g*npowder (was more interested in the equipment to be used for other purposes, honest) they said to use a meat grinder to grind the charcoal down to small bits (thoug in that article they went on to grind it to a powder with pestle and mortar). The site is down at present, but here a link to the page from where you can get more info, possibly another link
https://www.covenantacres.com/HowtoMakeBlackPowder.html
I have just made small amount of charcoal in my woodburning stove, shutting it down when the flames die down.
I wonder, MM, if the size of the logs might have something to do with how far you have to let it burn. If the logs are quite thin maybe bank it up as soon as the flames die back a little, ignoring the colour of the smoke, as it will still carry on smoldering anyway. Just an untried idea. Good luck with your next batch.

dougal

Joined: 15 Jan 2005
Posts: 7184
Location: South Kent

Posted: Sun May 01, 05 5:38 pm Post subject:

The part of Madman's experiment that puzzles me (as being utterly contrary to anything I'd heard of), is the sentance

Quote:

The fire continued for two days, with regular restocking of timber.

Restocking?

I thought the idea was to *keep* it sealed, and NOT add anything...

And I'm a bit concerned about Judy's (indoor) experiments, because one of the gasses produced when burning with a restricted air supply is bound to be the deadly poisonous Carbon Monoxide...

judyofthewoods

Joined: 29 Jan 2005
Posts: 804
Location: Pembrokeshire

Posted: Sun May 01, 05 5:51 pm Post subject:

dougal wrote:

And I'm a bit concerned about Judy's (indoor) experiments, because one of the gasses produced when burning with a restricted air supply is bound to be the deadly poisonous Carbon Monoxide...

Not to worry, dougal, I shut down the air intake, not the flue, in effect closing down the fire to nearly, but not quite 100%, preventing burning, but allowing the smoldering, and the hot gases still rise up the chimney.

Blue Sky

Joined: 30 Jan 2005
Posts: 7658
Location: France

Posted: Sun May 01, 05 7:03 pm Post subject:
I did wonder about the restocking of timber bit myself actually but was too shy to ask (after all he is called "Madman") Maybe J of the Woods should be renaimed mad woman!

judyofthewoods

Joined: 29 Jan 2005
Posts: 804
Location: Pembrokeshire

Posted: Sun May 01, 05 7:54 pm Post subject:

simon wrote:

Maybe J of the Woods should be renaimed mad woman!

Dash, I thought I could keep my real name a secret

dougal

Joined: 15 Jan 2005
Posts: 7184
Location: South Kent

Posted: Sun May 01, 05 8:53 pm Post subject:

judyofthewoods wrote:

Dash, I thought I could keep my real name a secret

Well... IIRC "Probably known as the madwomaninthewelliesintheskip", although I haven't seen *that* picture, yet...

Blue Sky

Joined: 30 Jan 2005
Posts: 7658
Location: France

Posted: Sun May 01, 05 8:58 pm Post subject:
SSShhhhhh!!! I won't say another word

Lloyd

Joined: 24 Jan 2005
Posts: 2699

Posted: Sun May 01, 05 10:15 pm Post subject:

[quote="dougal"]The part of Madman's experiment that puzzles me (as being utterly contrary to anything I'd heard of), is the sentance

Quote:

The fire continued for two days, with regular restocking of timber.

Restocking?

I thought the idea was to *keep* it sealed, and NOT add anything... quote]

As we couldn't get sufficiently high temperatures, on a couple of occasions the lid was removed and more fuel of better quality added, and then the lid resealed.

dougal

Joined: 15 Jan 2005
Posts: 7184
Location: South Kent

Posted: Sun May 01, 05 10:26 pm Post subject:

Madman wrote:

The fire continued for two days, with regular restocking of timber.

dougal wrote:

Restocking?

I thought the idea was to *keep* it sealed, and NOT add anything...

Madman wrote:

As we couldn't get sufficiently high temperatures, on a couple of occasions the lid was removed and more fuel of better quality added, and then the lid resealed.

And I think that may be the reason that the fire burned down to ash rather than charcoal. It really is supposed to be about choking the fire... (writes the former scientist who'd quite like a gas barbie, but knows he shouldn't...)

Lloyd

Joined: 24 Jan 2005
Posts: 2699

Posted: Sun May 01, 05 10:36 pm Post subject:
Interesting. As this was the first attempt, we lacked the confidence to leave it sealed, thinking that it would just die out. As Jema said, one can learn a lot from failure.

Guest

Posted: Wed May 11, 05 11:04 pm Post subject:
This website has a good article on making charcoal. https://www.clt.astate.edu/elind/charcoalvalentine.htm I have used a similar method to do the same, and it only takes 3-4 hours for a finished product. Good luck with your attempt.

Lloyd

Joined: 24 Jan 2005
Posts: 2699

Posted: Wed May 11, 05 11:25 pm Post subject:
Excellent link!..Thanks, Guest. I shall use this info in making the definitive kiln!...Check back here in a few weeks for the article on it!

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