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TerraCarbonaInternational Center for Biochar Research and Experiments |
The Flanastove is a novel improved charcoal-making cook stove developed by Robert Flanagan, that can advantageously replace traditional cook stoves used for domestic cooking by rural households in the developing countries.
The Flanastove accepts any vegetal biomass as feedstock (e.g. agricultural wastes) and has a capacity of 1 kg biomass, which gives about 1 hour of cooking autonomy and biomass charcoal as by-product (15-20 % of the initial amount of biomass). Moreover, the Flanastove can be reload with feedstock anytime during the combustion, and can thus be run continuously to be used for any cooking task. This micro-scale efficient co-generation of heat and charcoal, coupled with the use of the produced charcoal as soil fertilizer is an innovative strategy for both the reduction of poverty and the mitigation of climate change.
The Flanastove is portable, insulated and has a small fan operated via a wind-up mechanism. This ingenious system generates autonomously a ventilation that improves the combustion of the gas and thus the efficiency of the stove without requiring an external additional source of energy at the beginning of the process on the contrary to most existing approaches.
The carbonation process relies on the principle of 2-stage combustion which consists in two steps. In the first phase the biomass is pyrolized: a small amount of air is forced through the biomass to produce charcoal and a combustible gas (syngas). In the second phase, extra air is added above the fuel to burn the combustible gas and generate the heat. The advantages of the 2-stage combustion is the more complete combustion of the wood it allows and the higher temperature of the flame which leads to the transfer of more heat to the cooking pot.
A video showing a water boiling test with the Flanastove and demonstrating the improved fertility obtained through the use of the generated charcoal as fertilizer can be seen here.
If you want more information on the Flanastove, please contact Robert Flanagan at agrisonic@gmail.com.
The most recent operational prototype of the Flanastove is shown on the following picture:
Pro-Natura International has developed and patented a new technology, producing a household fuel alternative to wood derived from agricultural residues not used for animal foodstuffs. The product of this new technology has been named green charcoal. This domestic fuel is obtained by a unique and efficient continuous carbonization process which allows fuel wood and normal charcoal to be replaced by green charcoal at a very competitive price.
The use of the green charcoal machine is a significant improvement towards eliminating greenhouse gas emissions (methane) that are associated with the normal production of charcoal from wood. The improvement from using the green charcoal machine is due to the fact that the process burns the methane produced as its driving source of energy.
This process is based on the carbonization of vegetative material on a continuous basis and on agglomeration of the carbon into balls, pellets or briquettes. Savannah weeds, reeds and various types of straw (wheat, rice or maize), cotton stems, rice husk, coffee husk, bamboo, or more generally all plants with a sufficient lignin content can be used to produce green charcoal. The technology developed by Pro-Natura is based on the utilisation of a reactor heated to around 550°C, through which the biomass flows continually. The temperature is maintained at a constant level by the combustion of pyrolytic gases that are recycled and burnt in a second reactor.
One of the unique features of the process is that once the machine is pre-heated, the process produces its own energy, except for the feeding of the biomass that is done with a small electric motor of low consumption. This process is therefore practically autonomous in terms of energy and its yield reaches 30% to 50% depending on the type of biomass (weight of charcoal compared to gross weight of biomass).
One important aspect of the design of the carbonizer is that the external insulation is as good as possible to ensure that the heat generated by the combustion of the pyrolytic gases is sufficient to maintain the temperature of the reactor.
If you want more information on the Pyro-7, please contact Pro-Natura International at info@pronatura.org or visit its website.
Do you have another sustainable and clean method for producing biochar ? We are looking forward to learning about it ! Please send a small description to info@terracarbona.com and we will contact you.