Thinning out dead poles in preparation for a flame-shielded kiln burn session.
This particular bamboo is very thin-walled and processes quickly (burns fast). Every few years or so, I thin out the dead poles for another session as I don’t use it for anything else.
I wish there just a biochar community, I feel like content like this doesn’t belong here?
I think this is right on target. I am leading a volunteer group’s efforts to study biochar production and use - though I am not setting the world on fire (biochar joke!). Looks like a great project. I recently experimented with a double wall, chimneyed burner called a TLUD. It is very efficient and smokeless. I think in the long run, we won’t burn to make biochar, but that is some years down the road.
looks pretty fancy. the basic construction is a burn barrel with bottom air inlet, set inside a larger sleeve sealed at the bottom, and a chimney over the inner barrel. The inner barrel is filled with wood, and ignited at the top. The chimney is placed over it. Updraft draws air through the burn chamber and the flame is vigorous (burning smoke components completely). As the flame moves downward in the inner barrel, the inner barrel wall heat is transferred to the inlet air flowing in the annular space. That inlet air becomes quite hot and accelerates pyrolysis of the wood. If the wood/fuel is not dense, embers may fly up the stack, but I think that would not normally be an issue.
