That is nice biochar researchers want to investigate PAHs before committing to the massive scale production of biochar required for sequestration of carbon to offset emissions. For individual people though when dealing with brush it is probably much better to turn it into biochar with a clean burn instead of a bonfire that produces more smoke (and PAHs). So in some cases it is a pretty obvious improvement.
Coal tar asphalt sealer is about 15% PAHs, something to think about there for sure. Most likely we are all taking part in a full scale uncontrolled experiment on the impact of PAHs already!
Nice thread. I wanted to share my own biochar cooker experience. I knew early on that if I was going to make biochar I wanted to do a continuous flow model of production as opposed to batches (partially just to prove it could be done that way). Also, I did not want to smoke out the neighbors. This is what I came up with⌠https://youtu.be/qxWiRCzGBRY
I ended up using a meat gringer with a geared down motor attached to do the crushing.
@roth2000 I wish I had time to do a break down video. You are not the first person to ask. Maybe I will some day. There is a book that features the unit I built with a little more detail. It was written by a friend of mine that originally introduced me to biochar. Here is the link to the book on Amazon.
Just for fun, here is a picture of a huge flame I took one night while making biochar with the wife.
How do I determine what âSmallishâ metal containers are safe to cook biochar feedstock in? I know galvanized is bad, but can I use empty paint cans you can buy at lowes\HD? Also, Uline has a couple random size barrels, but they say they are lined with some sort of rust inhibitor but I canât find any other info.
I donât seem to be able to find Info on safe metal types for burning. Any help would be great.
i would just take any barrel, poke some holes and make a hot fire in there. that should burn off any coating. dump and dispose, then make your biochar.
I have had this big pile of fig prunings since early spring, it was a windy spring though, and I put down ground cover in the area so didnât want to light the pile and risk embers burning holes all in it. Today was a good day to do it because there wasnât much wind and it was mostly blowing away from all the ground cover.
Wild hops had grown all through the pile, so I couldnât really tighten up the stack or pull out much to toss on later. I usually stack about half and then feed the other half onto the coals. It was just a big, quick, very hot burn today followed by carefully getting close enough to push in the edges with a rake without getting roasted and tossing a few more on top.
Quenching takes almost as long as the burn, stir the char around while spraying with a hose and pick out the uncharred pieces. Feeding a bunch of small diameter stuff onto the coals helps the bigger pieces finish charring, there wasnât too much left though.
