Thanks Everyone…
Looks good, Jakob. Silicone turbo/intercooler hose is strong and heat resistant. Comes in various sizes.
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Hey everyone. I was hoping for some help. Several months ago there was a video posted about charcoal production. I can’t find the video and I was wondering if anyone remembers where it is. I think it was from Thailand but not sure. I think they were distilling wood vinegar. They had a cart made with bicycle wheels to move drums of wood/charcoal around. They set the barrels on a cement hearth/oven to cook it and sealed the bottom with sand. Any of this ring a bell? If you know where this video is, could you let me know? Thanks, Jakob.
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thanks Mr Bruce…
Finally got a video uploaded. It takes forever to upload.
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Excellent job there Jakob! You certainly think things through.
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Great job Jakob.
Enjoyed the video .Thanks
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Jakob; That is and excellent well thought out build. You have put a LOT of work into this. Many of us have fooled around with charcoal and charcoal making and can appreciate what you have done. TomC
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The first batch only pyrolyzed about 80%. All of the smaller chunks were perfect. Some of the centers of the bigger stuff were not quite done. Also a few pieces around the outside of the barrel. We are thinking about adding a skirt around the barrel to hold the heat in better and help cook the wood on the outside.
The second batch cooked for 50 minutes and burned down farther. It was left to cool over night.
There’s another video coming but it takes a long time to upload.
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Wery interasting! Good job. Can you draw a skech of your sistem please? As l see it, your design is somilar to myne. Once l get flamable gas l redirect it back under the kiln so it heats its self. But what you culd do is redirect half the gas under the kiln and half under a neighbouring kiln, thus only neading to burn starting fire once for 3 kilns.
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Hi Jakob, Really a good use of an exercise bike! At least you are putting it to some useful work:grinning: Let me suggest you place a 1/4" to 1/8" mesh screen over your present sorting screen. The gaps look to be at least 1/2" wide which means a lot of good engine grade charcoal is dropping through. You want a mixture of different size charcoal in the gasifier to make sure the CO2 reacts with hot charcoal and gets reduced to CO. If there is too much room between the pieces of charcoal, some CO2 will slip by.
Thanks for sharing. It is great to see this technology being carried on by the next generation.
Gary in PA
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There is a 1/4" screen on the 1/2" one. It is just hard to see on the video. Also, I am getting stuff that is about that size up to about 7/8" or so. I had to add a little stopper in the grinder so even bigger stuff wouldn’t drop through.
That’s a good idea. Do you think I could just add a T to my stove pipe and turn it down to the bottom of my barrel?
My dad is already dreaming of using that wasted heat to heat water or distill water for a medical clinic, or something like that. And to use my furnace as a medical waste incinerator.
If you see anything in my videos and can offer some advice, I appreciate it.
Kristijan, I’ll try to make a drawing and upload a photo.
Thanks, Jakob
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Thanks for the video guys, that really explains your setup.
After a couple of runs you will get to know how long to cook it etc. I found that if you see smoke and f!ames, your charcoal is not ready to be cooled and needs to be cooked
Until no smoke andI yellow flames show.
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Jakob has been busy making charcoal. He’s figured it out pretty well. He’s been talking about adding a secondary burner at the top to make it easier to get it to light at the top of the stove pipe.
The grinder is working quite well. He loaded the gasifier and tried to start the tractor today, but ran into some problems with the tractor that he’s fixing. Wiring, etc. But he made really good gas and had a beautiful flare. His water drip worked very well—atleast with the blower.
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Hi Jakob , A question about your drum of wood that you are turning to charcoal .
you are sitting that 55gal drum over your rocket stove bench ( fantastic idea btw )
so i guess the bottom of the drum must have a hole that lines up with the rocket stove furnace , if so that means you are burning straight up into the barrel and burning the wood inside from the bottom i guess ?
Dave
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Yes, There is a hole in the bottom of the barrel about 12" dia. Then I tack welded a piece of expanded metal over the hole to keep the wood and char from falling out. I am making several barrels like this so they can be rotated through the process. A 9 year old boy up the road wants to learn how to weld, and he bought himself a little wire feed at Harbor Freight, so I am teaching him how to weld and letting him build my barrels at night after he gets home from school.
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okay, that is pretty sweet. It reminds me of the costa rica biochar groups Hornito, but youtube blocked the video I think because of the background music. It isn’t exactly the same but the 3 holes and the continuous batch process you are planning is pretty similar. 
You might think about insulation on the outside of the barrel.
The grinder is awesome.
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We are considering a secondary burn up top to help with the flare. And also, a possible clam shell shroud for the 3 barrels. That would help keep heat on the outter wood in the barrel and also the barrels could share heat. Speed up cook time.
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