Charcoal making: going green with black.
IR@IHBT: CSIR-Institute of Himalayan Bioresource Technology, Palampur
View Archive Info| Field | Value | |
| Title |
Charcoal making: going green with black.
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| Creator |
Uniyal, S K
Kumar, Amit |
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| Subject |
Plant sciences
Chemical Engineering |
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| Description |
The recent article by Jha et al.1 demonstrates
the wide applicability of biochar
and makes interesting reading. As rightly
pointed out by the authors, charcoal is
perhaps the best example of biochar.
Considering the interest that has been
generated by Jha et al.1, many readers
would be interested in knowing how
actually charcoal is made. During one of
our recent field surveys to Kasera locality
in Kangra District, Himachal Pradesh,
Figure 1. Hearths used for making
charcoal. Note the logs scattered in the
background and charcoal in foreground.
Also visible is the smoke emanating from
the hearths.
we saw small hearths (Figure 1), locally
called ‘bhattis’, used for making charcoal.
From a distance these look like
small huts and are so uniform as if a
template has been used for making them.
However, no templates are used. The observed
huts roughly measured from 250
to 260 cm in width and 195 to 200 cm in
height (n = 6). Each hut had an archshaped
opening that extended half way
up to the top and many small holes of
5–6 cm diameter on the side walls. It is
through this arch-shaped window that the
wooden logs are placed in the hearth and
burnt to produce charcoal. There are no
precise dimensions for the logs, but they
are cut so that they easily slip into the
hearth. Once the woody biomass has been
properly stacked inside the hearth, it is
ignited. The arch opening is now plastered
and one can see smoke coming
from the multiple holes. Slowly, one by
one, these holes are also plastered and
the biomass is allowed to burn in the absence
of oxygen. After 3–5 days, when
the biomass has burned and the hearth is
not that hot, the plastered door is opened.
It is inspected and left as such for some
time. The charcoal is then collected and
filled in gunny bags. Each filled bag
weighs around 28–30 kg and is sold for
Rs 300 per bag. According to the persons
interviewed (n = 11), a hearth in
which 25–30 q of biomass has been
burned yields around 5–6 q of charcoal.
This generally is used for heating purposes
and is a source of greenhouse
gases. However, the reported applicability
of biochar for carbon sequestration1
is a ‘green side’ of this black material,
and perhaps an important one.
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| Date |
2011
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| Type |
Article
PeerReviewed |
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| Format |
application/pdf
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| Identifier |
http://ihbt.csircentral.net/950/1/08%2D02%2D2012_Charcoal.pdf
Uniyal, S K and Kumar, Amit (2011) Charcoal making: going green with black. Current Science, 100 (1). p. 9. |
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| Relation |
http://ihbt.csircentral.net/950/
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