The Shop > Metal Stuff
Making Charcoal
ironman:
What is the binder you are using for the briquettes?
Meldonmech:
Hi vt,
This is an interesting and informative post.
Cheers David
vtsteam:
Thank you Meldonmech! :beer:
Ironman, I just used a very small amount of flour in water. I imagine corn starch, wallpaper paste, etc. would all work, but flour was handy.
Mayhem:
I will be watching this development with interest...
vtsteam:
Density of the small softwood pellet looks to be 0.56 g/cc. That means it is about the same as compressed hardwood charcoal. Which actually makes sense. Only the physical structure of softwood makes it lighter. The material, nearly pure carbon, is the same. We're interrupting that structure by compressing it.
The original softwood charcoal it comes from averages about half that density. So I would expect the energy density to be about doubled. Probably less for hardwood, but the result is the same with either material.
One question I have is, will the binder keep it together in the furnace long enough to be useful. I'm guessing yes. I do think the consumption rate will be higher than coke, as I expect it will fragment to some degree, and produce more burning surface. On the other hand that could mean a hotter temp in the melting zone. It may be that the size of the pellets might have to increase a little above rule of thumb for coke in a cupola.
That would reduce surface area, increase space between pellets, and balance the fuel air mix better if compressed charcoal burns hotter and faster. More convenient briquetting also.
All theories, of course, until I try it out.
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