Truly the best way I have seen Thank you again!

This is ingenious thank you for sharing. its exactly what I have been looking for. I love the fact I can see the fire that is the best part.

the best ones are the simplest. thanx.

Believe your video is the best to copy as best I can. I've have a cut out top of a barrel, I made a cut to it's center ,Hammering from center outwardly. All around the flat sheet of steel gives it roundness ( something I learned as a BlackSmith) . My "true cone " doesn't have a flat bottom like your but might be for the better. Next I will try to hammer and bend for your recommendation 63.5 degrees angle. WOW ! You seem to have a quick effective system, I've only a 60 ' square garden but as a Stewart of my land I trying to care for it on my watch. Thanks for the teaching.

Much thinks of you broh❤

schöne Forschung!

I'm copying this. Thanks Hopefully biochar works for my clay base soil Good luck to us

Can i use layers of grasses and green leaves and branches with greenery on them.

Elegant design and it certainly seemed to work. Well done. (I don't think it would be a viable option for us though - we need to burn much wetter timber in larger pieces so we really need a design that utilizes all that heat that is lost in yours. I'm sure it will have applications though. Good luck with it.)

@Godshole

5 жыл бұрын

Flippin eck, fancy meeting you here... Congrats on your lass getting the funding for the first stage. I saw a video, several, of just digging a cone in the ground, becoming a super heated space to drive off moisture if you start with fairly dry wood. And another vid where a chap dug a rectangle just big enough for a pallet, lined it with old roof tin, then kept adding pallets till t was full and covered it with more tin and the loose soil from the hole to stop all air. I bet with a minimum of splitting and seasoning for a bit you could get hot enough to drive the steam out of wet wood in something along those lines.

how about optimal angle ?

What is the smoke released from quenching it at the end?

Thanks for posting this video, particularly the explanation of the air flows. May I bother you with a few questions in regard to the sequence and forms of stacking your wood? Have you tried to make a taller (or shorter) stack? Wider and taller? If so, what happened? What happens when you start with more mass? I realize that you have more-than-likely tried every conceivable configuration for loading and firing this method. Does the approach in the video represent your optimum choice in regard to labor, firing time, mass, etc? I definitely plan to experiment with this approach, though for now I'm planning to use a pit (which I've dug) rather than steel. Eventually I do want to use a steel kiln. They're reasonably priced. I only recently learned about the top-lit methodology through some demonstrations and reading. Having made (literally) dozens of yards of biochar for my own projects using some crude methods and yielding some variable resuts, the top-lit approach really appeals to me -- and especially the conical form. Again, thanks for offering this great information!

@ithakaJ

9 жыл бұрын

Richard Freeman Hi Richard, the form in the video was made during the first trials. Since than we accumulated a good thousand hours of testing and improving. I would make the cone more shallow now. More information you find on our website: www.ithaka-intitut.org and in the ithaka journal (www.ithaka-journal.net). Best, Hans-Peter

@richardfreeman2288

9 жыл бұрын

ithakaJ , Thank you Hans-Peter. I imagine you stayed with the 63° angle? Also, did you change the sequence of the load-up and firing? BTW, I really appreciated your making the point that energy spent sawing (mechanically decomposing) has a lost-energy equivalent in the char process. Thanks!

@ithakaJ

9 жыл бұрын

Richard Freeman I like to go down to 45° for small feedstocks like shrubs, straw, husks etc. For wood its better to keep it deep (63°)

@richardfreeman2288

9 жыл бұрын

ithakaJ Thanks for the clarification. That's good to know -- the 63° angle for woody material versus 45° for lighter material. I have a copious supply of woody material in my region, and that's usually what I char. On another note, I have a sense that wood chips won't char well in this approach. True? (As you point out, that chipping represents lost energy.)

@ithakaJ

9 жыл бұрын

Richard Freeman Even though chipping is loosing energy, the pyrolysis of small feedstocks is more carbon efficient. Better, however, is using twiggs and shrubs that don't need to be chipped and make great biochar.

For those of us without the means to roll such a kiln from sheet, is there any reason this could not be done using a cone-shaped pit? I've seen videos elsewhere of folks trying that, do you feel there are specific advantages to an above ground metal cone from a cost/benefit basis?

@ithakaJ

7 жыл бұрын

There are many good reason to use soil type Kon-Tiki which we do in many countries and places. You find instructions how to make soil pit Kon-Tiki on our website: www.ithaka-institut.org/en/kon-tiki

@oxbowfarm5803

7 жыл бұрын

Thank you

I'm a little confused, why not just dig a hole in that general shape? Seems like that would be much cheaper and the first run would fire the clay walls.

Would it work as a pyramid with flat sides, and eliminate the need for cone rolling?

@ithakaJ

9 жыл бұрын

Yes it also works, we prefer the cone form for better convection and less smoke but char quality with pyramid kiln is excellent too.

@brianhughes45

9 жыл бұрын

ithakaJ The more I look, the more I like. One thing, my interest is primarily in dry charcoal for gasifiers- have you tried incorporating a slot at the bottom to allow the char to drop into an airtight collection vessel? Would you wish to place any restrictions on copying or adapting your design, Creative Commons style? My angle grinder and welder are salivating in anticipation- I will, of course, credit you.

@ithakaJ

9 жыл бұрын

brianhughes45 Hi Brian, if you quench it instead of with water with a air tight lid, you will lose a bit more carbon and the biochar will have more condensates but if you want to use it for barbecue charcoal and not for animal feed than that works fine. The basic design is open source and you find more detailed information on our website: www.ithaka-institut.org/en/ct/101-Kon-Tiki-open-fire-kiln. If you like the kiln and build one for yourself then please think about a donation to our institute to continue this kind of research: pay what it's worth for you. If you want to make a buisness out of it and produce Kon-Tikis please take personal contact with us.

All good from begining. But the ending hy water?? Why you dont closeoff out of oxigrn???

@ithakaJ

6 жыл бұрын

Because we do not want to make charcoal for combustion but biochar as organic nutrient carrier that need different water dynamics and water mediated nutrient exchange

@daroniussubdeviant3869

5 жыл бұрын

steam cleaned micropores for biochar win.

@MikeTrieu

5 жыл бұрын

@@daroniussubdeviant3869 If it's the steam that's creating the pores, wouldn't it make sense to dump in boiling water so the flash to steam is even more violent and complete?

@daroniussubdeviant3869

5 жыл бұрын

@@MikeTrieu i think it is the pressure of it as a hot gas that clears the pores. boiling water is still a liquid.

@MikeTrieu

5 жыл бұрын

@@daroniussubdeviant3869 Well, yes, water is still a liquid, but you want that liquid to be right at the transition temperature to flash into gas, otherwise you waste the energy of the fuel raising the temperature of the water up to that point. If steam generation is the goal, that's how to optimize for it.

You'd probably have a more convincing demonstration of the vortex ring if you filmed it with a schlieren setup.

@ithakaJ

5 жыл бұрын

Thank you very much for this advice, you are fully right, it would be so great to do. Would you have any suggestion about where to place the mirror? Would like to try it.

@MikeTrieu

5 жыл бұрын

@@ithakaJ Pretty much right behind the subject. You can see a successful demonstration of the apparatus in this Veritasium video: kzread.info/dash/bejne/ZqibsduOY5eqZJc.html Also, a really nice tip about placement of the knife edge: kzread.info/dash/bejne/nYeZxdaMnM3AnLQ.html

No kiln required! Making a hole in the ground works just as well: kzread.info/dash/bejne/i61tzZKYo7uXqLg.html

I appreciate the science behind the cone type of system. I like the simplicity of it, but it does have two disadvantages. One is that the fuel becomes mixed with the biochar because there is no physical separation. Therefore the product is "contaminated".Two is that the energy of production is lost and can't be used so there is no possibility that the system could be made carbon negative like a closed system can be.

@ithakaJ

7 жыл бұрын

Hi Bruce, thanks for your comments. There is no mixing with the fuel as the pyrolysis gazes are driven out and oxidized (much more in fact than in any closed industrial system). We can further prove it by dozens of EBC certificate analyses. Concerning the use of heat, there are several added features to the Kon-Tiki that let use the heat. In Nepal for example, we produce essentiel oil and hot water with the waste heat or in Switzerland the heat is used for district heating. Carbon negativity is about the balance of C input and C output compared to other biomass use like compost or simple burning. You will find more detailed information on our website: www.ithaka-institute.org or in www.biochar-journal.org and there are also several peer reviewed articles about the Kon-Tiki method including char quality and C balances. Best, hp schmidt

@brucetaylor7095

7 жыл бұрын

I'm confused as I see you throwing the fuel directly onto the feedstock. Surely you end up with a mix of both charcoal and biochar? How is it separated? At the end of the day it probably doesn't matter too much, but it might if you are a vendor selling the product and describing it as 100% biochar. I've seen other closed systems that don't need to be attended for 10 hours or more, and they shut themselves down once the pyrolytic gases are exhausted and the fuel burns off. That becomes quite efficient for folk who don't have a full spare day for making biochar.

@ithakaJ

7 жыл бұрын

Hi Bruce, it might be helpful for you to get informed a bit more about biochar e.g. at www.biochar-journal.org. From a material perspective all charcoal is biochar and nobody would ever try or want to seperate the charcoal from the biochar in a system.

@watchthe1369

7 жыл бұрын

athe ashes are a form of fertilizer as well, potash I understand. Purity of process is not all that critical especially if you are going to inoculate it for fertilizer with manure. If you are going to use it in a forge, skip the manure treatment.

very messy, i doubt if wood charcoal being wet by water is good charcoal

@davedrewett2196

6 жыл бұрын

Bayan Ni juan I think you are referring cooking charcoal. This is not cooking charcoal it’s agricultural charcoal at this stage. It will be added to some nutrient source and used to grow plant. It is also taking the grape pruning that were previously just burnt as waste and keeping a portion of its carbon permanently out of the atmosphere. Wetting the charcoal at the end makes it better agricultural charcoal because it ruptures the pour structure of the charcoal.

@nicolotacconi3136

5 жыл бұрын

You actually need to wet charcoal cos its hydrophobic in the first place, then you need to add microfauna (bacteria and mycorrizae), then grind it. at least that's how I do.

its not biochar

@markroeder2491

6 жыл бұрын

Not yet, but it is the first step.

You're not making biochar, you are making charcoal, which is NOT the same.

@doloinc

9 жыл бұрын

So are you saying that the Mayan's didn't make biochar? Biochar is just biological charcoal, in which an organic material is converted into charcoal.

@johnjacobs2377

8 жыл бұрын

+doloinc CHARCOAL IS *NOT* BIOCHAR DUE TO A DIFFERENT PROCESS THAT SPECIFICALLY CREATES EACH OTHER FOR THEIR OWN SPECIALIZED PURPOSE. There are different qualities of biochar. The lesser than the highest most potent quality is likely what was in that wok....however, it was a clean product without any soot.

@markroeder2491

6 жыл бұрын

This is a very high quality charcoal for using such a primitive method. The quenching water quality lets us know that the volatile gases were driven off and that is what you need. It is only after it has been inoculated that this becomes biochar. Use the pure charcoal to top dress a compost pile in a winter greenhouse to control odors and gassing while inoculating the char. Come Spring, you have massive amounts of biochar/compost mixture. Win-win-win!

@nicolotacconi3136

5 жыл бұрын

Biochar is activated charcoal, which is just the media. They'll need to inoculate that with bacteria and nutrients to make it become Bio-char.

@Godshole

5 жыл бұрын

I have to agree with Brad (4 years on and still the same misconception). This process made very fine quality CHARCOAL. It only becomes Bio-char when as other people have pointed out, it is inoculated with bacteria, fertilizer and the multitude of enzymes and goodies that make living soil work. One method I have seen to do this in a kiln very similar was to have an ICBM? one of those big white containers industry uses to transport and store liquids, which was full of a mix of water and dilute animal poop. When the combustion was done this was pumped into the tap at the bottom of the cone, extinguishing the fire and allowing the CHARCOAL to absorb the nutrients. Here it is, came up in the feed straight away. kzread.info/dash/bejne/h2WVs7ywYJvMg6g.html Even then, soaked in poop water this is not yet Bio-char. It needs time to Ph balance and for the 'living' element of the process to begin. As MARS ROVER mentioned, add it liberally as you build your compost piles then by the time the compost is done it will be ready to do good to your soil. If you just start spreading it around the place before it is processed it will actually rob its surroundings of nutrients like a sponge. DOLOINIC, The Myans made it by mixing it (CHARCOAL) with their organic waste in deep pits and letting it become ..... wait for it (literally)..... BIO-CHAR John Jacobs, nope, in that kiln it is still JUST charcoal. Apologies for the rant but the swivel eyed idiot on the 'greenpowerscience' channel I think it was did a lot of damage spreading this bollocks and it pressed my big button. Oh yeah, and 'the same amount of energy cutting it as you recover'???