Mature Know-how: Reusable charcoal mound
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*Turn on captions for written commentary (CC in bottom right corner of screen). Charcoal is a valuable fuel that reaches a higher temperature than the very wood it’s made from. I’ve made some before, but with supplies running low due to furnace experiments, I decided to make another large batch of charcoal in a mound. I stacked the wood into a roughly conical shape (about 1 m wide and 75 cm high) and then built a thick wall of mud around the heap (this took 6 hours). Eight air entries were made in the base of the mound and one air exit hole was left at the top of the mound to allow the volatile components of the wood to escape while creating a natural draft to keep everything burning.
The mound was lit and the flame burned backwards down the heap in the opposite direction to the draft. This protects the coal made above the level of the fire from burning as carbon dioxide rushes past instead of oxygen, preventing combustion of charcoal. Each air entry was sealed only when fire became visible through them. This is an easy way to tell when to close them up, i.e. when the fire had burned down all of the wood in the heap. When the last air entry was closed, the air exit at the top of the mound was sealed, 5 hours after starting. The next day when cool, a large arched opening was made in the side of the mound to extract the charcoal. Despite a few unburnt brands the yield and quality was good filling almost 2 baskets.
To see if the kiln was reusable, I restacked it with timber cut from a fallen gum tree branch up the mountain. Due to the difficulty in reaching into the mound I stacked the wood in criss-crossed horizontal layers. The opening was sealed with mud and the mound lit as before. This time the mound burned quickly and I had to seal it early as the timber was burning at different rates, 3 hours after starting. Some large logs remained unburnt while charcoal that had already formed started to burn up being wasted as ash.
When I opened it the next day it had still produced an ok amount of charcoal but was disappointingly low compared to the first batch. This may partly be due to some of the wood being still green though it’s probably more likely to be due to how it was stacked. The lesson here is that when making charcoal the wood needs to be tightly stacked with few air spaces between. If not, the mound admits too much oxygen that quickly burns the timber.
Another thought I had was that wood may convert to charcoal better if laid vertically (or roughly so, like the cone in the first firing) so that the fire starts at the top of the wood and burns down. Stacking the wood in horizontal layers means that each layer has to set the one bellow alight leading to problems if the wood is green (use dry wood if stacking horizontally). By stacking wood vertically each piece is alight already and simply burns down towards the air entries. Stacking in this way also makes it easier to see fire in the air entries letting you know when to seal the mound.
For the reasons above I may make another charcoal kiln in future in the shape of a cylinder with air entries around the base and an open top. The kiln would be re-usable and easily stacked. A conical pile of wood would protrude above the walls of the kiln and be plastered in a temporary cover of mud. The kiln would be fired as with a normal mound and when finished the temporary cover of mud would be removed to extract the charcoal
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Transcription
Digging ordinary clay-loam soil for the mound Placing wood at center of mound Stacking wood in conical shape, small to large Wood is mainly Eucalyptus picked up from the ground It's important to tightly stack the mound for a good yield Pile stacked over a few days as wood came to hand Water from the creek Making mud with ordinary soil Making a layer of mud as wide as the hand.
The top of the mound is left open 8 air holes are made around the base of the mound. The mound took 6 hours to cover. Making fire with fire sticks. I use fire sticks because they're easier to make and maintain than a fire bow set (fewer components). The tinder is crushed candle nut leaves The fire is lit on the open top of the mound The fire then burns down into the opening The fire burns down the wood heap in the opposite direction to the updraft Wood is converted to charcoal as the fire moves from top to bottom Volatile gases (CO and H2) burn as a flame above the mound.
When you see fire in an air entry it's time to block it up When all air entries are blocked, the top is blocked also. This took 5 hours Opening the mound along a door shaped line Unburnt brands, put aside for next time Usable charcoal Charcoal is cooked through and glossy in appearence I only want charcoal over 2.5 cm in diameter for my furnaces. Smaller pieces can be used for pit fires. The mound is small and cramped Charcoal yield.
Unburnt wood stored for next firing Storing charcoal out of the weather Fallen gum tree branch up in the mountain The breaking area This method saves effort Stacking horizontally this time Criss-crossing layers Each layer perpendicular to the last Stacking is difficult through small entrance.
Final layers through open top Sealing entrance Hole opened in the base Lighting mound Blow pipe Making another basket Fire burning a little fast Blocked up to prevent over cooking. This took 3 hours. Lots of un burnt wood due to difficulty stacking the mound.
Quality and yield lower than first run due to loose stacking But it's still usable Charcoal mound
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Author: Author Link: Youtube Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SjK2XlNE39Q Category: Channel Name: Primitive Technology Channel ID: 22 Tags: primitive,reusable,charcoal,
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7 thoughts on “Mature Know-how: Reusable charcoal mound”
It would be a valuable project, but why not uncover a kiln with an interior chamber for pottery or charcoal?/–||—||||__|||____Something esteem that? That you might possibly easiest need clay for a duvet plate over the inner chamber. The relief can be mud construction.
Why mine coal must you might possibly possibly well well possibly find it?
holy hell thats a entire lot of charcoal
Display us the skills you spend to gash attend your hair….I have faith esteem you live in a city and find these videos for stress-free to your spare time.
I'm impressed by the yield of charcoal for what’s, comparatively, not worthy work. That's in actual fact ravishing.
Would actual crushing the charcoal for storage in esteem one or two immense pots set on storage baskets/basket presents the least bit?
Can someone present why he needs charcol? Why is it better than actual easy wood?