Collecting Seeds

Don Julio and I spent some time earlier this week collecting seeds of a few common timber species of the region. Don Julio is a Kosñipatino (born and raised here) and spent much of his career in the timber industry. He has a wealth of knowledge about which species are popular for timber, where to find good seed trees, and when these trees are producing seeds or saplings.

Above is an image of seeds from the yanay tree. We had to walk quite a ways off the trail to find this particular tree. The seeds were buried in the leaf litter on the forest floor so finding them was a bit like a treasure hunt, but in the end, we ended up with about 25 viable seeds.

We also collected sapling of two types of laurel - "laurel of the mountain" and "laurel of the beach." The former was much more abundant and we planted close to 40 saplings while we only found about 12 laurels of the beach. All three species were divided into three groups and planted in bags of either pure biochar, pure compost, or a 50/50 mix biochar/compost.

COP20

COP20 is the 20th annual Conference of the Parties. It is an international political response to climate change which sets a framework for establishing action to stabilize greenhouse gas emissions. The group was established in March of 1994 and now has 195 parties. Last year's conference included over 650 members of the media, more than 4000 government officials, and almost as many UN representatives. This year's conference was held in Lima, Peru and also drew a large number of participants.

To learn more about COP20 please visit: http://unfccc.int/meetings/lima_dec_2014/meeting/8141.php

Several reporters from various countries, including Brazil and Egypt, visited Villa Carmen with goals of learning more about sustainable agriculture and biochar. It was great to have the opportunity to talk to reporters about the biochar project here at Villa Carmen. They took photos and video of our biochar projects, kiln, and the quenching process. They even interviewed Yhilbonio and I about our involvement. Check out the pictures below!

A-maize-ing

This week we planted our third biochar field trial - 1/2 hectare of yellow corn. The corn will be ready for harvest in 4 months providing us with relatively rapid results, in comparison with pineapple and plantain.

The sustainable agriculture staff teaching me how to plant corn. 

The biochar was ground to particles no larger than 1cm and the biochar-compost mixtures were pre-mixed and applied to the field in parcels, using the same methods as the pineapple field.

Cart Upgrades, Wood Waste Biochar, and Signs

Before

After

The biochar carts were in need of some repairs. The wire meshing intended to keep the biochar in each cart has deteriorated over time - which is no surprise considering we've completed over 100 burns at temperatures around 800C! The new design does not include wire meshing but rather metal posts that we hope will be able to resist the heat. 

We recently completed our first burn using waste wood. This biochar isn't ideal for planting crops for consumption, however we are sure we can find other uses for it. As seen in the bottom of the two photos, nails and other bits of metal remain even after burning.

Volunteers at Villa Carmen helped out the sustainable agriculture and biochar programs by making signs to identify biochar treatments in the field. These signs will hold up through the rainy season and make periodic measurements and harvest a breeze.

Plátano

In addition to planting 1/2 hectare of pina, we have also planted 1/2 hectare of plátano huayco. This variety of plátano is used for cooking and is ready to harvest in approximately 9 months. The plátano also received experimental applications of biochar and compost in a localized application (biochar/compost applied in each hole prior to planting). 

Plátano huayco contains more starch and less sugar than dessert bananas and therefore must be cooked prior to eating. In Peru, chips made from plantain are called chifles - below is a recipe to make your own!

Ingredients:

Green plantains (or green bananas)

Oil of choice for frying
Salt to taste
Optional: Aji (hot peppers), or garlic to flavor the oil

1. Peel green plantains or green bananas. Be careful as they tend to stain clothes and cutting boards. 

2. Slice plantains lengthwise (full or half), or as thin rounds or diagonal ovals. A mandolin is recommended for optimal thinness. 

3. Heat the oil, either in a deep saute pan or fryer. Ideal temperatures for frying is between 375-400 F. There should be enough oil in the pan to fully cover plantains. 

4. Add plantains to the hot oil, being careful not to overcrowd them or let them stick together. 

5. Fry until the chips are a golden color. 

6. Remove chips from oil and drain on a paper towel. 

7. Sprinkle with salt and serve either warm or cold!

12,000 Pineapples!

With the help of the Asociación de Piñeros we have successfully planted 1/2 hectare of pineapple - 12,000 plants!

Pineapple "seeds" are actually the crowns of pinapples. These seeds will send out roots in the next few weeks and will produce fruit in a year and a half. 

The 1/2 hectare pineapple field has been divided into experimental parcels. The experimental parcels received a constant application of biochar, with decreasing rates of compost.

Villa Carmen staff and volunteers after a hard day of planting.

Arrival of the Grinder

The arrival of the grinder was much anticipated. There’s a stockpile of biochar ready to be ground and the planting of experimental pinapple, plantain, and maize plots is right around the corner. The biochar can now but processed into uniform size making it both easier to apply and more effective in soils. Finely ground biochar increases the water retention and allows for worms and other microbiota to transport the material in all directions resulting in long-term improvement in soil quality. 

Oswaldo, Yilbonio, and Aparicio installing the grinder.

The grinder installed and ready to go!

The very first test run - success!

The lights went out, the manure came in

Peru Biochar Kiln: Update 13 - More Burns, A Roof, Finding Biomass

Burns

Building the Roof

Parcel Prep and Tractor Work

Biomass Options in Town

Biochar Kiln Operation: Update 12 - Freed pipe and 3rd Burn

Starting the day at the welder's shop.  Human error in construction in Lima welded a pipe that was supposed to be free. The extremely high temperatures in the pyrolysis chamber (800+ ºC at times) causes the air ductwork to expand.  It's not much, but over three meters of stainless steel pipe, it's enough to blow a lot of rivets and allow enough air to enter to make ash instead of biochar.  

We didn't have a plasma cutter, and the way the locating plate on the pipe is oriented, you can't quite get in with an angle grinder.  An oxy-acetylene torch would punch a hole in the metal, but since it reaches 3,000º it would punch a hole through everything, our ceramic insulation included.  The town welder had a very clever idea: crank up the amperage on an arc welder, run the polarity so the current passes through the electrode and that is enough to burn a hole in meter.  Above is our test on some 309s stainless steel scrap.

Yuri at work.

The result, a free pipe

Finishing the second pipe

Back in business! Charring at 722ºC above the biomass

The temperature above the stainless steel heatshield.  The heatshield blocks the fire from burning the biomass but allows the heat to pass to perpetuate the pyrolysis reaction, liberating syngas from the biomass and further feeding the combustion above the heatshield.  By manipulating where atmospheric air (namely, its oxygen fraction) we can control where combustion is happening.  When things get toasty, the stainless steel waterjet nozzles can drop the temperature 100º C in 15 seconds.  Quenching from 800 to below 100 takes around 10-15 minutes.

A great mix of technology and tradition.  We used automotive silicon on the thinner seams, but ultimately, the easiest material to use to seal the door is good old fashioned clay, mined a hundred meters from the work site.  The dried clay will be mixed into subsequent batches prior to pyrolysis to mineralize the biochar.

Side view of the reactor with some condensed pyrolysis bio-liquids leaking out the bottom.   In a more advanced system, or with some retrofits on this design, we could condense and capture these liquids and see if they hold potential to be converted into biofuels.

While we're making biochar at the oven site, the municipality's 130 HP tractor is prepping our parcel sites.  We have two particularly tenacious occupants, exotic Brachiaria grass and native Psidium (guava) trees.

Another view of the sealed door

Cooling the door handle to open

Opened door and commencing the quench.

Yanking out the first crate with the assistance of a bent piece of rebar that is the crate hook: part # 91263

Dousing the first crate.  Though we engage the sprinklers and reduce the ambient temperature in the chamber to ~93ºC, the center of the feedstock crates continues to pyrolyze.  Once exposed to oxygen, it begins to combust, and we lose biochar.  Though, the ash from that combustion will enrich the biochar from a agronomic standpoint.

Another view inside, glowing embers in background

The cooled crates.  

Still quenching.  A small ember left overnight could leave us with a pile of ash in the morning.  This, our 3rd run left us with more than 500 pounds of biochar, our best yield yet.  There was a small amount of torrified wood on the bottom, btu we're tweaking the process boost our yield.  To come, a double header biochar day with two cycles in a day, thermal images of the machine in operation and the door opening, and experimenting with chipped biomass.