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British Biochar News

Welcome to the first edition of

the British Biochar Foundation’s

newsletter - British Biochar

News.

This year has been a quiet one

for the British Biochar founda-

tion following last year’s suc-

cessful conference on Biochar

producing technology held at

Hawkwell House in Oxford-

shire. The organization is com-

mitted to the sustainable devel-

opment and deployment of bio-

char industry in the UK and our

growing membership base will

help this be realised now and in

future years.

The BBF now have a forum and

directory running (see page 7)

and have recently decided that a

newsletter should be published

and be sent around to mem-

bers.

The idea came about because

the variety of equipment availa-

ble to produce your own bio-

char can cause confusion. This

issue will therefore focus on

some of the technologies availa-

ble in the United Kingdom for

producing your own biochar

and the properties, advantages

and disadvantages of each type.

We invited David Friese-

Greene to write an article on

his CarbonCatcher unit which

is explained later in the issue.

We also look at two other

technologies — the Exeter re-

tort which is designed and man-

ufactured, and reviewed here,

by Robin Rawle and Geoff Self

from Carbon Compost Compa-

ny and the newly available Kon-

Tiki kiln which is reviewed by

Richard Copley. Mark Ship-

perlee also provides an article

on his experiences making bio-

char using both the Car-

bonCatcher unit and the Kon-

Tiki kiln. These articles should

hopefully provide reader with

an idea of the technologies

available for producing biochar

and aid in the development of a

successful biochar industry in

the UK.

We would like to

thank all the writers

in this issue for their

valued input and

hope the newsletter

provides a captivating

read to all those in-

terested in biochar.

We hope to be back

soon with another

newsletter to keep

you updated with the

biochar industry in

the UK,

Many thanks,

The team at the BBF.

In this Issue:

Biochar Producing

Technology:

Kon—Tiki Kiln

Exeter Retort

CarbonCatcher

BBF Directory

“Committed to

the sustainable

development

and deployment

of the biochar

industry in the

UK”

Issue 1

August 2015

2

Garden Kon Tiki Kiln

The Kon-tiki is a Pyrolosis ma-

chine based on the ancients

technique, the Earth kiln, with a

more precise theory of produc-

tion. The Kon-Tiki really does

encapsulate the meaning of

simplicity, similar to the story

in which the name came from.

Like Thor Heyerdahl, Hans-

Peter Schmidt has created a

Biochar device that is effective

and cheap. Though like all pyro-

lossis/charcoal making equip-

ment I have seen or used so

far, it still needs due care and

attention to keep it running.

This is not an answer to turning

a device on, loading it and let-

ting it do the work!

Using instructions from http://

www.biochar-journal.org/en/

ct/39, I set about a burn on the

11th June 2015. I found that the

instructions did exactly what

they said on the tin.

Chimney stack of wood with

the fire lit at the top. I find it

handy if you have some straw

to get it started and leylandii to

keep the fire burning while it

starts to ignite the underneath

wood, to eventually collapse

and create a bed of hot em-

bers. Then follow this up with

evenly spread layers, increasing

the amounts until the very end

using only small pieces as the

Pyrolosis process slows down

due to the kiln being full. At

this stage you quench with a

hose through the underneath

fitting (which partially activates

the char, from rising steam

through the kiln) and sprinkle

from above.

The most impressive aspect

about the Kon-tiki is the load-

ing, both moist (even rain

soaked, takes a bit longer to

get up to temperature though)

and dry timber can be charred,

brash and chip. I will say that

brash too thick takes a lot long-

er and if the larger pieces are

not given enough time, then

you will find un-charred pieces

in your load. A full load can

range from 5 to 6 hours using

fairly moist wood with a variety

of wood sizes; use drier feed-

stock and smaller pieces then

this time will dramatically

drop.

Running the Kon-Tiki is a sim-

ple task allowing you to manage

your time on other things close

to the kiln e.g. Firewood split-

ting, more charcoal making or

just laying back and enjoying the

sun with a nice cold one. I pres-

ently run the Garden Kon-Tiki

alongside the Exeter retort and

split Firewood, comfortably.

I'm still burning today, learning

every day something new about

its wonderful process. My only

dilemma now is I will need to

upgrade to the Pro, to make

even more of my time. Howev-

er good relaxing with a beer

sounds!! Will have to save that

for when I have friends round

and set up the grill attachment

Please don't be afraid to con-

tact me for details regarding

the kiln..

Richard Copley

“The Kon-tiki re-

ally does encapsu-

late the meaning

of simplicity”

“both moist and

dry timber can

be charred”

Contact:

Email:

richardcopley89@yahoo.

co.uk

Capacity: Around 150kg Yield: 50 kg moist 35 kg dry Dryness of Biomass: Moist due to quenching Particle size: 2mm up to 40mm (sure it could do more, just will take longer) Burn time: maximum 6 hours, usually 5 with a variety of dry and moist biomass (around 30% to 50%) can take less with dry and smaller feed-stock, minimum 2 hours. Labour requirement: Mini-mal, need to be around to monitor burn. Cost: €985 including Rim

Shield & BBQ Rack - €1272

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Exeter Retort Biochar feedstocks come in

many forms and machines that

will process most of them are

hard to find.

The Exeter Retort has been

proved with many differing ma-

terials including wood, reed,

bamboo, bone and grass.

Its compact size and total port-

ability make this machine a very

attractive option for small pro-

ducers.

Its ability to also make first

class BBQ charcoal means that

it will always be earning an in-

come.

Up to 180kg of high quality

char can be produced per day

depending on the feedstock

used. Retort chamber capacity

is 1.6 cubic metres.

The machine is supplied with all

tools needed to operate it, a

small supply of consumables

and two days of training. Cur-

rent price is £12750 plus VAT

for a retort and a bespoke trail-

er adds another £2900 plus

VAT, both prices ex works.

The machine is in use across

the world and licensed manu-

facture is carried out in the

USA and Lebanon currently,

with an Australian license to be

agreed within the next eight

months.

Machine development is ongo-

ing and is currently centred

around alternative control

methods and energy removal.

The retort produces much ex-

cess syngas and heat whilst in

use and its design lends itself to

easy removal of this energy.

The combined experience of all

our customers is used to con-

stantly improve the machine.

Demonstrations can be ar-

ranged either with us at Sid-

mouth near Exeter, Devon or

with an owner/operator nearer

to you. Machines are supplied

either with or without a trailer.

If no trailer is required bespoke

handling solutions such as fork-

lift pallets can be manufactured

to order.

An Exeter Retort is designed

for maintenance in the field and

can be disassembled/repaired

with basic engineering equip-

ment.

Robin Rawle and Geoff Self

Carbon Compost Company

“The Exeter re-

tort has been

proved with

many different

materials includ-

ing wood, reed,

bamboo, bone

and grass”

“Up to 180kg of

high quality char

can be produced

per day”

Contact:

Phone:

Robin 07515 683908

Geoff 07966 681676

Email: ad-

min@carboncompost.c

o.uk

Website:

biocharretort.com

4

CarbonCatcher™ CarbonCatcher™ A top lit

updraft gasifier designed and

built by the Soil Fertility Project

in the UK.

The original unit CC-45/100

(pictured on the near right) was

built in August 2013 and many

variations are in use worldwide.

The size of the kiln can be var-

ied according to need. This kiln

has a 45cm diameter and height

of 100cm giving a volume of

160 litres. The smaller CC-

25/50 unit (pictured on the far

right) is half the size with a 25

litre volume, 16% of the bigger

kiln.

The unit can pyrolyse any dry

biomass but works best using

denser woody materials. In

India agricultural waste such as

paddy straw, sorghum heads,

mango, cashew and coconut

husks have all been used suc-

cessfully. In the UK a standard

sized wood chip/ brash is ideal.

The moisture content should

be 30% or less, which will give

charcoal yields of around 25%

by weight of feedstock (a mois-

ture content of 20% or less is

optimal).

One person can run the unit

easily. Once a small fire is lit on

top of the biomass in the kiln

and the chimney swung into

position, it takes about 10

minutes to reach pyrolysis tem-

perature. The unit can be left

unattended until the process is

completed. Times are very vari-

able depending on many factors

but dry wood chip in the larger

unit would take on average 90

minutes to run through.

Runtime can be shortened by

loading smaller amounts of

feedstock.

One of the main features of the

CarbonCatcher is that it runs

very cleanly, producing no

smoke after initial startup. The

design ensures that full oxida-

tion can take place at the top of

the kiln and in the chimney, by

the introduction of secondary

and tertiary air flows. Emission

details can be found on the

website:

www.carboncatcher.co.uk.

The CarbonCatcher makes an

excellent research and demon-

stration unit. It can be built

using mild or stainless steel.

The cost for building a high

spec CC-45/100 in mild steel is

about £1600 but this can vary a

lot if you build it yourself.

The design is ‘open source’ and

details, together with videos,

are available on the website.

We can build one for you if you

wish. Contact details on the

website.

David Friese-Greene

Soil Fertility Project

www.soilfertilityproject.com

“The unit can

pyrolyse any dry

biomass but

works best using

denser woody

materials”

“It runs very

cleanly, producing

no smoke after

initial set up”

Contact:

Website:

www.carboncatcher.co.uk

“One person

can run the unit

easily”

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Making Biochar—The Practice

Last year I was introduced to

the wonderful world of bio-

char. Having spent a fair few

years in tree surgery, forestry

and conservation work, and

having been growing my own

food, it seemed a great concept

to make good use of waste

wood, make a soil improver

AND lock down carbon – all in

one product. So I decided to

explore further.

Much surfing (internet style!)

and reading gave me a great

introduction, and then I got the

opportunity to use a

“CarbonCatcher” for several

months on unofficial loan early

this year. I set to, making as

much biochar as possible,

mostly from wood chipped

from hazel coppice regenera-

tion work in the local area.

The CarbonCatcher is a “batch

process” biochar kiln – the one

I used took about 140 litres of

dry wood chip in a steel drum

1 metre deep and 45 cm in

diameter, and produced be-

tween 25-35 litres of biochar in

2 hours. It had an adjustable

“gap”, the magical space that

feeds oxygen back in to burn

off the wood gases, allowing a

clean burn. As a batch process

kiln, it means you load it up,

light it and just leave it for the

two hours – so very useful if

you are working in the allot-

ment/garden/workshop nearby.

With dry wood chip – under

20% moisture content – the

“burn” went well, and also siev-

ing to remove dust helped. In

biochar making, there is signifi-

cant heat production, and I was

contemplating the idea of up-

grading the kiln, by taking off

the layer of insulation around

the main drum, and winding a

copper pipe round it, to heat

water and thereby utilise some

of the heat generated in the

process. The heat coming out

of the “chimney” is lost, mainly

because the top of the chimney

is about 4 metres off the floor

– making it harder to work

with.

One of the challenges for me,

looking to develop a commer-

cial horticultural product was

the small amount of biochar

produced and I was just starting

to discuss scaling up the Car-

bonCatcher when I was intro-

duced to a new design – the

Kon-Tiki kiln. Two things im-

mediately attracted my atten-

tion – it was “continuous feed

process” with a potentially

much larger end volume of

biochar, and also it could han-

dle larger pieces of waste wood

– thereby removing the need to

chip the wood first (less energy

consumed in production). The

Kon-Tiki is an open cone shape,

so also has challenges around

capturing the surplus heat cre-

ated, but is very versatile for

working in woodlands, on tree

surgery jobs, etc. I am currently

looking at how we can get it

into places that other timber

extraction vehicles cannot easi-

ly get – conveniently the final

product is very light to remove.

Having spent time with Richard

Copley and his Kon-Tiki kiln I

“make good use

of waste wood,

make a soil im-

prover AND lock

down carbon—all

in one product”

Contact:

Website:

https://www.facebook.com/

greenmanent

Email:

mark@greenman-ent.co.uk

6

“The unit can

pyrolyse any dry

biomass but

works best using

denser woody

materials”

“The Joint Inter-

national Biochar

Symposium 2015

aims at under-

standing the

mechanisms that

enable beneficial

and safe biochar

implementa-

tion””

believe that the Kon-Tiki will

meet my needs, especially as it

is not so critical to have the

moisture content as low as

20%, and the fact that I do not

need to chip the feedstock be-

forehand. But I see the Carbon

Catcher could be very useful

for large gardens, or allot-

ments, where it can just be set

away to burn for a couple of

hours, and it would appear eas-

ier to capture and use the heat

given off, than on a Kon-Tiki,

although a project in Serbia is

working this very issue.

This autumn/winter should see

the purchase of one or more

Kon-Tiki kilns, and I have spent

the late spring and summer

giving away 100g sample at fes-

tivals, shows, farmers markets,

etc to get people to just try it.

And we are about to start col-

lecting in the results. As an

encouragement I have just har-

vested my au-

tumn sown

Broad Beans –

and having divid-

ed the bed up,

the area that

had “untreated”

biochar gave

884g of beans

(shelled) while

the control area

with no biochar

gave 740g – an

ex t r a 20% .

There was also

25% more pods,

and 25% more

s ta lks f rom

same number of

seeds. The two areas were

otherwise created exactly the

same, and then just divided by

slates. The seeds were from

the same batch, and all planted

same distance apart, and same

quantity. So in this rudimentary

test, I got a great result. How

about you? How are you seeing

biochar working in your gar-

den, allotment, smallholding? I’d

love to hear.

Mark Shipperlee

Green Man Enterprises

Interesting Upcoming Events:

Joint International Biochar

Symposium 2015

Geisenheim (Germany), from

28th to 30th September 2015

“The Joint International Biochar

Symposium 2015 aims at under-

standing mechanisms that ena-

ble beneficial and safe biochar

implementation, by uniting the

two often separated, co-

existing “worlds” of practition-

ers, stakeholders and applicants

with biochar scientists for in-

spiring exchange.

In the beautiful historical scen-

ery at Geisenheim University

on the shores of river Rhine,

with its century-long tradition

in viticulture and gardening, we

seek to bring together biochar

researchers and practitioners

for the mutual exchange of

experience, knowledge, ideas

and concepts to bring forward

beneficial implementation strat-

egies of biochar use that our

planet needs and deserves.”

For more information see:

http://cost.european-

biochar.org/en/biochar%

20symposium%202015

Text taken from: http://cost.european-biochar.org/en/ct/165-Joint-International-Biochar-Symposium-2015

Contact:

Website:

https://www.facebook.com/

greenmanent

Email:

mark@greenman-ent.co.uk

7

“The BBF Direc-

tory is a FREE

service provided

by members to

advertise biochar

related products,

services and bio-

char producing

technologies”

British Biochar Foundation Directory

The BBF Directory is a FREE

service provided by the BBF to

all members to advertise bio-

char products, services and

biochar producing technologies.

The free listing can be up to

5000 characters with up to four

images and a hyperlink to a

website. The listing comes with

a contact form so other users

and browsers can contact you

regarding your listing. The con-

tent is entirely up to you but

will be checked-over by BBF

and changes might be request-

ed prior to listing. Please note

that hyperlinks and email ad-

dresses are not permitted in

the listing itself and will be re-

moved before publication

Users have to register to use

the Directory separately from

the Forum site. The Directory

can also be used for advertising

the availability of biochar or

feedstock for producing bio-

char or for advertising a re-

quest to obtain feedstock or a

particular type of biochar.

If you have any questions,

please contact Simon Shackley

on:

s i -

mon@britishbiocharfoundation.

org

To find the directory please

visit:

www.britishbiocharfoundation.

org/directory

With Thanks to:

Thomas White

Simon Shackley

Hannah Scott

David Friese-Greene

Robin Rawle

Geoff Self

Richard Copley

Mark Shipperlee

Any Questions please contact the BBF by email or phone at:

Email: info@britishbiocharfoundation.org

Phone: 07920066830

www.britishbiocharfoundation.org