Bruce how are you going to handle the nails I see in your wood. TomC
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Tom,
Nails come out easy as Iām processing. About half of the nails I pull out as Iām unloading the retort. About 1/4 of them I pick out as Iām crushing and the final 1/4 come out by running a quick release pick up magnet through the sized charcoal before transferring to my container. It is hard to pass up all of the free pallets that are available. I made a pallet popper by welding bars across 2 crowbars the gap slips over the thick vertical pieces and lifts off the horizontal boards.
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For the barrel in a barrel retort, I have found that placing bricks at the sides of the internal flue provides a clear path for woodgas and keeps wood away from this cooler area. Before adding bricks I would have some brands in this area.
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For smokeless charcoal production consider the air sheet kiln. A thin sheet of air blocks smoke from escaping and adds air to the combustion chamber for hot clean fire. borrowed from incineration industry.
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Is this yours Bruce? Air inlet at bottom of barrel? Light at top? Shut off bottom air when done and slap cover on at top? SWEET!
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I would like to see a video of that in operation.
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Don you are using the pyramid type system, right? How do you rate that for smoke? I saw Gilmoreās āportableā pyramid in Argos, and donāt remember seeing any smoke. I believe he was using dried wood from the mill. TomC
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I have minimal smoke at start up but after there is glowing char at the bottom there is no smoke at all. The downside of the pyramid system is that you have to be there and feed it - you canāt just fill it and leave it. The upside is I can finish 10 gallons an hour all day long.
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No opening on the bottom. I just built a log cabin pile in the bottom. When this starter fire was going good with the aid of the fan, I knocked it down and began adding sticks and boards. When the flames calmed a bit and ash began to show I would add another layer.
I had a solid bed of coals up to the 20 gallon level (I am using a 30 gallon drum) in two hours. So about the same rate as yours, but my feed stock may be bigger (2 inch sticks and 1X4s).
Last night was my first run so I donāt know the quality of char yet.
I lined the barrel with pieces of stainless I had lying around. Very hot fire. I had to wear high temp gloves and a face shield to feed it. I ran the fan on low with an inline speed control. The barrel was glowing a bit at the bottom at first so I turned the speed control down to the lowest speed I could get. The only smoke was from the paint burning off of the barrel.
Even though this kiln produced more char per hour, I still prefer my internal flue retort because I can walk away after getting it going.
If the char is good, this could be an option for guys with nasty neighbors.
I was surprised to see the flames travelling toward the blower outlets (see picture). The nozzles are pointed down maybe 25 degrees into the barrel. The fire is hottest opposite of the nozzles where the air is deflected by the barrel down through the feed stock into the coals below.
I will be interested to see how much ash is in the barrel. This thing has a big appetite. I estimate that I fed about 60 gallons of loose wood to get 20 gallons of packed char.
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That is awesome Bruce! This is exactly what those of us in the more suburban areas would need. It looks pretty simple. What kind of blower are you using? Any chance you could upload a video?
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Cory,
Iām using a leaf blower and 3 inch PVC because thatās what I had in my junk pile. Since it ran best on low speed I think you could use a blow dryer or maybe one on each end of 2 inch PVC. No time for a video, but I hope to report on the char quality soon.
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Hi Bruce, any up date on the blower retort, on charcoal quality and the amount of ash residue.?
Bob
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Bob,
The char is good and mostly crushed already from poking down each layer before adding another.
It passed easily through my grinder except for three small brands.
I was surprised by a streak of ash near the bottom in the center. I expected to find ash on the outside edge where the fire seemed hottest. The amount of ash was more than I get from making char in an open barrel without a fan, but not bad. Maybe a few cups full.
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This barrel in a barrel method is what i started with years ago. Smoky startup, but Impressive flare and you can walk away and let it go on its own. It can be made more efficient by daisy chaining. Use the waste heat from the first to initiate pyrolysis in a second. By setting the outer barrel over the inner barrel and adding a little extra piping, you can exchange hot inner barrel for a fresh one and go back and forth between two units indefinitely.
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Great thinking Bruceā¦ 
I have my 55 gallon barrel with slots in the bottom, and put a pipe nipple in the lidā¦ then put a 1gallon can on top of it. It was -really- smokey. So I slipped a 2 1/2 piece of pipe over the nipple, and attached 3" ducting elbow and some flexible 3" aluminum ducting, then about an 8ft strectch of 3" ducting then about 15ft of 3" pipeā¦ and put the can on the end of that. 
I was trying to collect the pyrolisis oil/wood vinegar, and it condensed. You still get -smoke- but it doesnāt smell. I donāt know if a cyclone would fix that. I couldnāt get it to light, and the final temp according to the cheap HF temp gauge was around 115F coming out the end of the pipe. The first elbow had a significant temp drop. There wasnāt -quite- enough draft as there were wafts of smoke coming out of the bottom of the barrel. The char isnāt that great, and it burns unevenly. it probably could use insulation on the outside to keep heat in. But I really like the fact I just have to unscrew the nipple, put the cap back on and twist the barrel into the dirt to get it to stop. and I just break up the brush by hand and throw it in which doesnāt take very long. It burns for a long time. But you donāt have to worry much about it. There isnāt an open flame.
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Cory,
Yesterday I saw a 600 watt, $20 Shop Blower at the Tractor Supply store that looks perfect for a Curtain Kiln (I think this is the better name for this kind of charcoal maker).
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Thanks Bruce! Iāve got a TSC not too far from here. Thought Iād check out harbor freight too.
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Cory,
Short video here:
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