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How to crush, grind, pulverise charcoal


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mathuranatha sent me this private email. Unfortunately I am unable to reply to him

So does anyone have some suggestions?

Ive made a big pile of charcoal/biochar [maybe a cubic metre] is it more effective to finely grind it and is there an easy way? I've been putting it in a cement mixer with some largish round rocks -works but slow.

thanks Mathuranatha

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  • 2 months later...
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I had the problem of crushing charcoal. Firstly I reduce the size by hammer and then I live in hope that my wife does not want to use the coffee grinder.

 

:cup: i used a mortar & pestle; it's effective , but only suitable for small amounts. in mulling this over, i think for any large scale crushing the best method is to use large rollers. even smooth rollers should work, and once the limiting size(gap between rollers) is set, then you ought to get varying sizes from the limit on down.

 

so what existing machine might work? machine for rolling oats? ore grinders? gotta be sumfin'!:cool: :)

 

ps note to self: next anniversary gift ...>>> coffee grinder! yeah...that's the ticket. :doh:

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... grinders? ...

 

I am progressing through larger and larger mortars and pestles. My current pestle is a small oak trunk section 3" x 6'. My mortar is a 2'x1.5' wide plastic bin with a plywood floor insert. Good for coarse crushing a cubic foot or two of charcoal at a time. For producing 50:50 fines:gravel size, it works well, but not quickly.

 

A soil laboratory sized hammer mill would be my first candidate for transitioning from the human-powered pestle approach, especially if a mostly fines product is the goal. Hammer mills come in many shapes and sizes. Considering the $$, it would be nice to come across a used one.

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How well would a 55-gal drum attached to a water-wheel axle and having 6-10 rocks (2-5 kg) work? Would the tumbling action be enough to grind the charcoal?

 

I suppose it would but the problem would be where to put a 45 gal drum. The garden/yard is full of plants. I am a plantsman and not a gardener

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How well would a 55-gal drum attached to a water-wheel axle and having 6-10 rocks (2-5 kg) work? Would the tumbling action be enough to grind the charcoal?

 

what a totally unique & most-excellent idea erics! while it may not suit particular circumstances such as flapjack's, it has a lot of appeal. automatic, green, effective, to name a few. i have used rock tumblers to polish stones before; i bet your big drum would make one heck of a racket! :hyper: that's another bonus...it's a deer-chaser for the garden too! :hihi: :turtle:

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what a totally unique & most-excellent idea erics!

I agree. :turtle:

 

http://hypography.com/forums/terra-preta/3451-terra-preta-parent-thread-started-all-28.html

 

I might suggest you find a metal drum or some sort of barrel, get it on a spinning mechanism (think rotisserie chicken), put in your charcoal along with several heavy square bricks and round stones... spin and repeat.
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Sorry guys, I will have to stick to the coffee grinder until I find a company that sells Charcoal. When I was working we used fine charcoal in the galvanising process. I will try and find who supplied it.

 

Not being used to forums is it possible to upload a image showing terra preta root system.

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How well would a 55-gal drum attached to a water-wheel axle and having 6-10 rocks (2-5 kg) work? Would the tumbling action be enough to grind the charcoal?

 

That is a great idea, and prompted me to root around a bit. I found that the bioenergy lists have this great discussion on using a cement mixer as a ball mill to pulverize charcoal.

 

I can see a ball mill config working quite well, and for far less equipment cost.

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Amazing to see all the connections in technologies! I recall getting this idea from a TV show about John Deere combines and how they used rotating cylinders to thresh whatever they were harvesting to get the kernels. After reading all the other responses and doing a little more browsing - it looks like ball mills are simple to construct from materials at hand and efficient at pulverizing things. However - for a garden-scale process, perhaps the mortar and pestle approach fits the infrequent needs best; I know some kids in my neighborhood that would love a chance to beat something and get paid for their effort!

 

Eric

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Amazing to see all the connections in technologies! I recall getting this idea from a TV show about John Deere combines and how they used rotating cylinders to thresh whatever they were harvesting to get the kernels. After reading all the other responses and doing a little more browsing - it looks like ball mills are simple to construct from materials at hand and efficient at pulverizing things. However - for a garden-scale process, perhaps the mortar and pestle approach fits the infrequent needs best; I know some kids in my neighborhood that would love a chance to beat something and get paid for their effort!

 

Eric

 

Me too Eric, I go into a junior/infants school and teach garden science.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Check out the rice dehuller traditionally used by hill-tribes in Thailand:

 

For the mortar, they use a hollowed out wooden block - over a foot in diameter. Instead, I would get a discarded propane gas cylinder (used for fueling barbecues) and cut the top several inches off. With its rounded bottom, it already has the perfect shape as the ideal mortar.

 

Their pestle affair looks like a giant hammer - all made out of wood. It is pivoted so that the girls step on one end to lift the pestle and then let the 'hammer' drop for milling.

 

Of course, it wouldn't be nearly as much fun to build as a water wheel...

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I make most of my charcoal from softwood branch trimmings or split bamboo. Most of it fits into my garden chipper and comes out pretty small.

Also, the softwood charcoal is very easy to pulverize in a 20 liter bucket with a length of 2x4. I don't worry about getting it down to fines. I like it like peanut butter- chunky.

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