Making Charcoal


Hybrid Stove Making Charcoal


Making Charcoal For the Forge Part 1


Making Charcoal For the Forge Part 2

Found a good "Charcoal Making" link? Let Us Know!

Fuel For The Fires: Charcoal Making in the Nineteenth Century The making of charcoal, literally the distillation of wood to its carbon content, was an important process during the first half of the nineteenth century. Because it burned hotter and cleaner, charcoal was considered superior to wood. It provided fuel for both the furnaces which produced the iron and the forges of the blacksmiths who shaped it.

UNDERSTANDING BRIQUETTING By Mac Cosgrove-Davies. One means of making more efficient use of existing resources is through the use of briquetting. Briquetting involves collecting combustible materials that are not usable due to a lack of density, and compressing them into a solid fuel of a convenient shape that can be burned like wood or charcoal. Materials such as sawdust, wood bark, rice husks, and straw have been successfully briquetted.

Charcoal Gasifiers & Charcoal & Charcoal and Wood & Charcoal Production - a series of pamphlets and manuals by the FAO

Charcoal Making at Home, Robert Lea Many people who have read my instructions for making drawing charcoal have contacted me seeking information about how they can make larger quantities of charcoal for various purposes. Since my experience with making charcoal has been limited to making small sticks for drawing, I have not been able to answer their questions. In 1982, Robert Lea published an instructional pamphlet which seemed to cover many points of interest. In answer to my request, he has generously given permission for this online re-publication of his creative property.

Simple technologies for charcoal making This manual on making charcoal using simple technology systems represents another step by FAO to help overcome fuel shortages in the developing world. Charcoal in developing countries is mainly used as domestic fuel for cooking and heating but it is also an important industrial fuel. Large amounts are used in foundries and forges; in the extraction and refining of metals, especially iron, and in numerous other metallurgical and chemical applications. Making charcoal by using labor-intensive methods is the concern of this manual. The manual embodies the collective wisdom of charcoal makers of many countries and is offered in the hope that it will aid both to increase production of charcoal and, at the same time, conserve forest resources by curbing wasteful methods of production.

Industrial charcoal making This manual on Industrial Technologies for Charcoal Making represents another step by FAO to help overcome fuel shortages in the developing world. Through technical achievements, the carbonisation of almost any type of forest, wood industry or agricultural residues became feasible and also higher energy yields were obtained by producing commercially valuable by-products. Progress was made in particular in carbonisation of small-sized biomass, in manufacturing charcoal briquettes and in the design of equipment for energy co-generation to produce mechanical, electrical or thermal energy, through the recovery of energy from pyrolysis gases. The idea of this manual has been inspired by the Forest Industries Division of FAO with the purpose to inform and orient government agencies and managers of industries in developing countries concerned with improving the production and distribution of charcoal. This manual embodies the collective wisdom of charcoal makers of many countries and is offered in the hope that it will aid both to increase production of charcoal and, at the same time, to conserve forest resources by introducing more efficient methods of production.

CHARCOAL BURNING IN WYRE FOREST by Neville Wilde: Many accounts of charcoal burning by the traditional method have been written. Writing as early as the third century B.C. the Greek Philosopher, Theophrastus, discusses the virtues of a number of species of trees for making charcoal for various purposes. He also concisely describes the basic method for making charcoal as follows. "They cut and require for the charcoal-heap straight smooth billets: for they must be laid as close as possible for the smoldering process. When they have covered (with sods) the kiln, they kindle the heap by degrees, stirring it with poles. Such is the wood required for the charcoal heap." Probably the first description to be written in the English language was by John Evelyn in his "Sylva" dated 1664. He recorded a detailed account which described the charcoal burning process more or less as it was operated in Britain until the time that metal kilns superseded earth clamps. However a comprehensive explanation of all the stages of the process and the technical reasons for each of them does not appear in any of the documents which have so far come to hand.

Charcoal burning in Anglo-Saxon and Viking Age England Why make charcoal? The simple answer is that no other combustible substance generates the heat necessary for the forging of metals ( by the definition above, 20th century coke is "coal charcoal'' ). The process basically consists of Burning - or literally charring - wood at a very slow, controlled rate so that the combustion is never allowed to complete and thus turn the raw materials to ash.

Making Charcoal Making charcoal is surprisingly easy. But it is not something you want to do in your backyard except in small quantities. The method I describe here is what is known as the retort or indirect method. Basically, wood is placed in a container and cooked. All the volatile gases are driven off and charcoal remains. This is exactly the method used be the wood chemical industry before petrochemicals superseded it. We, however are going to use these volatile gases as fuel for the charcoal making fire. Almost like pulling yourself of by your bootstraps but not quite.

The Charcoal Burners Manual Charcoal Burning -The Process and description of Tasks involved for the successful completion of a Charcoal Burn By R.V. Ridley Summer 1999

Coal and Charcoal Some stuff for ironmakers, but 1/3 down the page are some recipes for making charcoal.

Thai Charcoal Making Not a whole lot of info, but interesting.

Income Opportunities in Special Forest Products . An online publication (pdf) with self-help suggestions for rural entrepreneurs. It is printed by the United States Department of Agriculture, U.S. Forest Service, Agricultural Information Bulletin 666. This publication discusses charcoal as well as many other forest income producing opportunities. Text Version

How can I make my own lump charcoal? Here is the recipe to make your own lump wood charcoal

Making your own charcoal Describes a method (with line drawings) of making Charcoal with a 55 gallon drum. Seems simple enough.

From Richard, a viewer:
Congratulations on a very helpful site.
My suggestion relates to the second method of charcoal making that you have published in the Self Reliance page. (Posted by John Cartlidge, quoting from Traditional Woodland Crafts "Making your own charcoal".)

This method works very well. A warning should be attached however to the description.

DO NOT OPEN THE LID OF THE DRUM TO SEE IF THERE IS ENOUGH WOOD, OR TO SEE WHAT IS HAPPENING, PARTICULARLY AFTER THE SMOKE TURNS FROM WHITE TO BLUE! THE EMISSIONS AT THIS STAGE ARE HIGHLY INFLAMMABLE, AND EXPOSIVE IN THE PRESENCE OF OXYGEN ADMITTED BY OPENING THE LID. I WAS LUCKY TO BE WEARING A PROTECTIVE HAT AND GLASSES AND SUSTAINED ONLY SINGED EYEBROWS! I HAVE BEEN INFORMED THAT THIS WILL HAPPEN ALSO WITH INCINERATORS.

Tasmania, Australia.

Burning Charcoal Issues Charcoal plays an important role in both the energy sectors and the economies of most African countries. However, the inefficiencies inherent to the production and use of charcoal, rapid urbanization(1), and the preference of urban dwellers for charcoal place a heavy strain on local wood resources. This in turn has severe environmental consequences. The use of charcoal cannot be stopped; but, experience has shown, it can be reduced through implementing a variety of measures that promote the sustainable production of wood and efficient use of charcoal through incentives at the local level. Players in the charcoal market need to be guided so that they can make efficient use of the resources. This should have a high priority in the development plans for most African countries. The World Bank can help by allocating more funds for the realization of these plans.

A HOME-BUILT CHARCOAL-FIRED FOUNDRY by Gene Elliott (c) 2000 (edited by Steve Kaehler) Since I’ve always wanted a small, portable foundry set-up that I could take along for field demos and other special projects, building this furnace gave me the perfect excuse to provide my very own portable small parts casting foundry.

Coal and Charcoal : Blacksmith's Coal, Charcoal and Forges. This appears to be a collection of discussion messages - surprising amount of info for the person willing to dig through it all & verify the facts.

How to make charcoal at home You really can make your own charcoal at home - even if you live in the suburbs! If you use the indirect method, which burns the gasses, and use a clean burning fuel (such as natural or LP gas) the emissions are mostly water vapor with very little smoke. It is not difficult to do and, even when burning waste wood to provide the carbonizing heat , the process requires less time and attention than barbecuing a rack of ribs in a wood burning smoker.

Biomass Briquetting International Workshop RWEDP Report No.23, 1996 [PDF] It is clear from the Workshop that substantial progress has been made in briquetting technology and practices in recent years. Briquetting of biomass residues for fuel is an important option for substitution of wood and loose biomass residue fuels, under certain conditions. However, the option should be carefully evaluated and any implementation should be based on a thorough understanding of the requirements and constraints. See also Biomass Briquetting: Technology and Practices, Field Document 46

The Ten Can Stove, built by Richard Boyt (Feb 16,98) for producing charcoal. You can see pictures of the stove here.

Charcoal Plant from Dr Yury Yudkevitch (March 26-99) This plan will take a bit of working knowledge yo figure out. Another, somewhat clear presentation can be seen at Making Charcoal, from Dr Yury Yudkevitch(July 3-98)

Photos of the 6-Drum Sawdust Carboniser taken on 11-11-98. by Elsen Karstad This prototype unit is capable of carbonising over 500 kg of air-dry sawdust within 8 hours at a conversion of 23%. Apparently made out of 55 gallon drums. Not big on explanations but this link makes a small attempt - Carbonizing Charcoal and Briquetting, from Elsen Karstad (July3-98)

Elsen Karstad's Charcoal Making Wood Gas Cooking Stove (Oct 2-97) The design is based on a single 25 liter paint can with an extension to the top (wider end) to accommodate an embedded 4 liter pot.

Elsen Karstad's Charcoal Making Wood Gas Cooking Stove (Sept 19-97) A 2 can design - pictures can be seen here: Pictures of Elsen Karstad's Version of the Two Can Charcoal Making Stove

Clean Combustion of Wood by A.M. Hasan and R Khan (1991) (Please Note: This link contains about 600Kbs, and will load slowly. On my machine it loads faster, in approximately 3 minutes, then I can read it's 34 pages.)

Understanding the Fundamental Processes of Wood Carbonization ­Where to from Here? Connor, M.A., Viljoen, M.H.

Pine Tar; History, Production And Uses. Theodore P. Kaye. Excellent informative text.

CHARCOAL PRODUCTION PROCESS Lengthy article of moderate use.

Charcoal manufacture in the United States is approximately equally divided between continuous and batch processes. Highly technical article with limited potential.

Industrial Charcoal Making Manual

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