making coal

[Justme]

You have to be very very careful not to "over cook" it or you end up with non burnable diamonds.

[renewablejohn]

If you are talking about synthetic coal made from wood it is called Torrefied wood. It is made by cooking wood in an oxygen free environment at temperatures between 220C to 280C depending on process. The two main methods of producing torrefied wood are the use of a torbed reactor or a thermal oil plate dryer. Once the wood has been cooked it is put through a hammer mill and then pelleted. Typical cost starts at approx £1.2M for the torbed system

[Will Ayers]

ok sorry i meant charcoal,

 

but dont people make it from chestnut coppice?

 

this guy is on about making charcoal from things other than wood, he has made a massive prototype using a shipping container and some whirlygigs and a spoon.... or something like that, but the thing got too hot and it all went wrong, he asked me to come on here and ask the pro's for some advice, he is a mad scientist who isnt afraid of experimenting so could be fun for someone if they are interested.

 

his other inventions have been really succesful and he owns several businesses, propper dragons den type!

 

does anyone know of a charcoal guy or knows a bit about building kilns for making charcoal with, any help would be great.

[scbk]

What is he trying to make the charcoal from?

 

 

 

We had a go at making some at college, I can't remember what species we used but I think we opened it too early, although we did get a bit out of it.

 

 

You can use an old oil drum as a small kiln for charcoal, might be a good way to start off?

[TRADITIONAL LOGGERS]

I have made charcoal for a long time. I am not sure what info this person needs and which type of kiln/retort he is trying to build. A lot also depnds on materials and sizes. (It is possible to make charcoal from woodchips and seed husks)

 

Please explain.

[Mesterh]

ok sorry i meant charcoal,

 

but dont people make it from chestnut coppice?

 

this guy is on about making charcoal from things other than wood, he has made a massive prototype using a shipping container and some whirlygigs and a spoon.... or something like that, but the thing got too hot and it all went wrong, he asked me to come on here and ask the pro's for some advice, he is a mad scientist who isnt afraid of experimenting so could be fun for someone if they are interested.

 

his other inventions have been really succesful and he owns several businesses, propper dragons den type!

 

does anyone know of a charcoal guy or knows a bit about building kilns for making charcoal with, any help would be great.

 

 

Err is it this guy?

[ATTACH]56996[/ATTACH]

[Omniata]

ok sorry i meant charcoal, .......

 

this guy is on about making charcoal from things other than wood, he has made a massive prototype using a shipping container and some whirlygigs and a spoon.... or something like that, but the thing got too hot and it all went wrong, he asked me to come on here and ask the pro's for some advice, he is a mad scientist who isnt afraid of experimenting so could be fun for someone if they are interested.

 

.......

 

 

I wouldn't mind meeting this guy to have a chat

 

Bit of a "maddun" myself , I do a bit of welding on the side and was considering building a set of kilns myself that were self heating once the wood gas had been ignited after preheating...

I was going to construct the kilns out of large diameter steel pipe and construct a fire brick/refractory surround around the outside, with a hinged/sliding door made of cast refractory/fire bricks...

 

The only difficulty was constructing the chimney, high enough and conspicuous enough to create enough draw...

 

I was then going to use CO2 to vent the kilns whilst cooling to limit the char...

[TRADITIONAL LOGGERS]

A small portable retort is the most suitable in terms of ease of use and wood weight to product produced.

 

There was a stainless steel version made some time ago in Yorkshire but very expensive. Corten steel is suitable instead.

[Catweazle]

You have to be very very careful not to "over cook" it or you end up with non burnable diamonds.

 

I hate it when that happens, nothing winds me up more than having to empty diamonds out of the ash pan.