How to Make Biochar: 2 Simple Cheap Methods

In this video I make biochar in two different ways using 55 gallon steel drums without having to spend very much time modifying the drums. The first way keeps the drum upright while the second method lays the barrel on its side. I discuss the pros and cons of each method.
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[@andyroubik5760]

Good video thank you! I am wondering if some holes at the bottom of the vertical barrel would get the fire going quicker and easier. Once it had burned enough. The bottom holes could be covered with ash or Dirt and the lid could be put back on allowing the fire to die from lack of oxygen. also wondering about charging the biochar. Would human urine be good for that?

[@DowdleFamilyFarms]

I’ve heard of people doing that successfully but in my experience it doesn’t work well. It burns but it’s hard to close off with mud or
Ash.

[@Wisconsin_Gardener]

I was given an oil drum. Still has oil remnants/grease residue. How would I go about preparing this barrel in the safest way possible?

[@DowdleFamilyFarms]

Burn in it to clean out the paint and oil.

[@bettinaripperger4159]

Do you have a video of your 300 gallon drum on skids ? Would love to see that video. Please post link

[@DowdleFamilyFarms]

Biochar on the Farm: What Is It? What Are Its Benefits? How to Use It
th-cam.com/video/uK7RfM3yFLg/w-d-xo.html

[@boatwrightfarm]

Great explanation is that the same thing as pot ash

[@DowdleFamilyFarms]

Thanks for watching! It’s not quite the same thing as pot ash. I’m not as familiar with pot ash, but I think you let the fire burn down to ash completely for potash rather than sniffing out the fire before the charcoal is consumed as with biochar.

[@boatwrightfarm]

@@DowdleFamilyFarms Very interesting we are on Sandy soil so always looking for something to help the soil with out spending 💰 on fertilizer. Thanks

[@DowdleFamilyFarms]

We have a clay based soil, so biochar helps us differently than it does on sandy soils. I suspect that it will help your soils more so than ours because sandy soils leach nutrients and tend to dry out faster than clay based soils. It would be a great thing to add in your barn when your pigs are in there. They will charge it with nutrients. That’s how we use most of ours.

[@lifeandliberty0172]

Ah, yet another thing we're both fucking around with. Too bad you live so far away, I'd definitely pound some beers with you and talk for hours about all this.

[@DowdleFamilyFarms]

Where do you live? This isn’t my preferred way of making biochar. My other video shows how I make it on a larger scale.

[@lifeandliberty0172]

@@DowdleFamilyFarms Oregon. I have a barrel retort, with a built in rocket stove, I can't remember the type of retort it's called. It works well, but as soon as I realized the many uses for char here I knew it was much too small. My next one will just be a common 275 gallon fuel oil tank, layed on its side with part of the wall cut out. I'll maybe weld some skids on it to be able to take it to wherever brush piles are on the place.

[@DowdleFamilyFarms]

@@lifeandliberty0172 that what we have with ours. A 300 gallon fuel drum on skids!

[@heyim3487]

Getting there on scale in Australia we use 500 and 1000 gallon ex diesel tanks on skids with top opened
R

[@DowdleFamilyFarms]

@@heyim3487 That’s what we use mostly. It’s a 300 plus gallon diesel tank on skids with the top cut off. It work well.

[@josephchaneyiii]

Not quite biochar . Lump charcoal possibly but biochar would mean that barrel would be filled and sealed so that a fire outside basically bakes everything except the carbon

[@DowdleFamilyFarms]

The difference between biochar and charcoal is the life (I.e. the bio) in char (charcoal) hence biochar. The method of production - primarily temperature, feedstock, etc.- influences different characteristics of the charcoal. There are many peer reviewed articles demonstrating this. However, pyrolysis - which is the burning without oxygen - occurs in different ways. The barrel kiln that you describe is on way. However, the leaders in biochar and charcoal production demonstrate a variety of ways to do this, including a flame cap kiln, which is the method in this video. If you are interested in different methods of production, the biochar international website is a good place to start. There are also several forestry service website based in the US (mostly western states) that demonstrate field use of the flame cap kiln as well.

[@josephchaneyiii]

@Dowdle Family Farms then you may want to petition for a change to the definition since it specifically cites pyrolosis meaning without oxygen. Thank you for the clarity though and research opportunities

[@DowdleFamilyFarms]

@@josephchaneyiii I’m not sure whom I would petition for a change in definition, but the pyrolysis occurs with a flame cap kiln as well. The stuff underneath the cap of flames is burning without oxygen. The flames on top consume the gasses within the wood without burning the carbon. My point is that within the charcoal or biochar making community, the flame cap kiln is an acceptable way of making biochar. There are also other methods as well. I hope I do not sound argumentative, nor belligerent. Rather, there are many ways to achieve pyrolysis, which is how charcoal and biochar are made.

[@josephchaneyiii]

@Dowdle Family Farms No, not belligerent at all. Again, thank you for that information. I will have to research kiln caps work.

[@doloinc]

Burn barrels are technically low Oxygen environments, given that the fire is burning at the top of the combustible material, which heats the lower Layers to release combustible gasses while isolating it from oxygen.
If that wasn't the case, everything would turn to ash during the combustion process and there would be no char at all.
The only difference is that greater oxygen isolation may result in higher quality carbon, but it honestly doesn't make a difference for most people. If anything, what's more important is the feedstock, which has a greater impact on carbon quantity, quality and pore structure.

[@craigfourie3485]

This is not biochar. You are simply making a campfire in a drum!

[@DowdleFamilyFarms]

Not sure why you say that but ok.

[@dyllos7]

yes, it certainly is biochar once biology is added although nature will do that over time anyhow if it is not inoculated and put on or in the soil

[@craigfourie3485]

It most certainly is not biochar. And the added innoculation still does not make you correct! Biochar is created from a controlled heated environment. There may be some biochar there but not much. Most of what he did ended up as ash.

[@dyllos7]

@@craigfourie3485 you've just admitted there is biochar! If you look up flame cap pyrolysis - you will see that this is a valid method of control of the oxygen coming into contact with the biomass

[@craigfourie3485]

@@dyllos7 it's the crudest method with the least yield. If you think you should defend this, power to you! Keyword: ash. You also said it was biochar once biology was added. You are a very smart guy. Those science degrees are sure coming in handy!