How can i make my own charcoal?!


Question: How can i make my own charcoal!?
can i make my own charcoal from fruit peelings!?

how to make charcoal!?Www@FoodAQ@Com


Answers:
How to make Charcoal:

Timing is important!. Plan to start your burn on the hottest, muggiest day of the year with a comfort index of at least 105 and air quality just above the minimum to sustain life!. These conditions won't affect the charcoal process at all but will ensure that the experience is memorable!.
There are two basic methods of making charcoal: direct and indirect:

The direct method uses heat from the incomplete combustion of the organic matter, which is to become charcoal!. The rate of combustion is controlled by regulating the amount of oxygen allowed into the burn and is stopped by excluding oxygen before the charcoal itself begins to burn!. This is the ages old method used by colliers to make charcoal in a pit, pile (clamp) or, more recently, in metal or masonry chambers (kilns)!. See the links below for more information!.
The indirect method uses an external heat source to "cook" organic matter contained in a closed but vented airless chamber (retort)!. This is usually carried out in a metal or masonry chamber (furnace)!. The indirect method results in a higher yield of high quality charcoal with less smoke and pollutants and requires less skill and attention than the direct method!.
For my first tests, I decided to try the indirect method!. There had been some posts on a pyrotechnics newsgroup describing a procedure for making small quantities of willow or grapevine charcoal in a cookie tin or five gallon bucket!. For the furnace, I used a 55 gal oil drum with the top cut out and a 12" wide X 10" high hole cut in the lower side for maintaining the fire!. I used two iron rods stuck through the sides about 8" from the bottom to support the retort!. I also kept the top which had been cut out!. After the fire was well established , the top was placed on the drum and supported by rods to help hold the heat in yet allow a good draft!. The retort was a 16 gal!. steel drum with lid and I cut about six 3/8" holes in the bottom with an acetylene torch!. I burned it out well in the furnace to eliminate petroleum residues!. These drums are used for lubricants such as transmission fluid and gear grease and are readily available!.

After the retort was loaded with air dried hickory the top was sealed and the drum was placed in the furnace or burn barrel!. Wood scraps and bark were placed under the retort and around the sides and lit with newspaper assisted by a little burnt motor oil to get things off to a fast start!. There was right much smoke for the first hour, but as things heated up and the moisture was driven off, it burned so clean that all you could see were heat waves!. With the vent holes located in the bottom of the retort, the vapors and gasses were discharged into the hottest part of the fire and burned!.

I stopped the first test too soon and only had about 1/3 charcoal!. The rest was charred chunks of wood!. The second test burned for about 3 hours, until the gasses had just stopped burning around the holes in the bottom!. Results: 56# of wood yielded 17 1/2# charcoal or 32% by wet weight!. Assuming an EMC (equilibrium moisture content) of 12%, The yield exceeds 35% on a dry matter basis!. This is very good as most direct burns result in 20 to 25% at the best!. I got over 2 1/2 five gallon buckets of good lump and only one large (4"X6") chunk showed signs of incomplete conversion with some brown in the center!.

I was going to run a series of trials to compare the indirect method with direct (bottom lit) and direct (top lit)!. After several burns using the retort, I decided that there were such obvious advantages to the indirect method that I abandoned studies of direct burns!. The retort method is easy, reliable, and does not require the skill and attention of direct burns!. The equipment and materials which I used are readily available worldwide!. As the gasses and volatiles are discharged into a hot bed of coals, I believe that most of the pollutants are burned, adding to the furnace heat!. I also suspect that yield and quality are better!. From what I have read, 35% by dry weight is excellent; the resulting charcoal burns hot and clean; you can almost light it with a match!.

The indirect method also appears to be more compatible with heat recovery and waste wood utilization systems!. I live on a farm in Virginia and my wife operates a small sawmill!. Disposing of slabs and wood waste is a serious problem!. I can burn a lot of the hardwood slabs in my indoor masonry heater/cooker!. We have not found an economical use for pine slabs (we can't give them away) and have started burning them in a field!. This is obviously a wasteful and polluting practice!. My ultimate goal is to build a small masonry furnace that would hold several 55 gallon drum retorts and recover heat for domestic space heating during the winter!. Charcoal could be a marketable by-product!. I would burn pine slabs and waste wood in the furnace and make charcoal from hardwoods in 55 gallon drums!. This approach appears to be very energy efficient as the gasses released by destructive distillation are utilized!.Www@FoodAQ@Com

Charcoal is the blackish residue consisting of impure carbon obtained by removing water and other volatile constituents from animal and vegetation substances!. Charcoal is usually produced by heating wood, sugar, bone char, or others substances in the absence of oxygen (see char)!. The soft, brittle, lightweight, black, porous material resembles coal and is 85% to 98% carbon with the remainder consisting of volatile chemicals and ash!.
Yes you can, but why bother!.Www@FoodAQ@Com

Use wood chips!.
I posted 3 different websites to check out, very informational!Www@FoodAQ@Com

try this
http://www!.wikihow!.com/Make-Charcoal
I don't think the fruit peels would work for charcoal, but they make for a mean compost pileWww@FoodAQ@Com

Not without wasting a lot money!.!.
You can check the Discovery Ch!.!.!.
They did a program on "the Charcoal People"Www@FoodAQ@Com





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