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NDSU-NORTH DAKOTA FOREST SERVICE, Bismarck, ND, March 7, 2017 - The North Dakota Forest Service (NDFS) sponsored a feasibility study by Wilson Biochar Associates to analyze new, low-cost methods of converting dead and diseased trees to biochar. This process conserves soil carbon, improves air quality through smoke reduction, and reduces hazardous fuels for potential wildfires.
Wilson Biochar Associates examined three case studies using three different methods of low cost biochar production, analyzing production methods and costs. All the methods use the principle of flame carbonization. Flame carbonization takes advantage of the fact that wood burns in two stages, a gasification stage that burns with a flame, and a solid fuel combustion stage that reduces charcoal to ash. Using either an open burn method or a container, the burning process is interrupted before the solid fuel combustion stage, saving the char to be used as biochar for soil improvement. The flame carbonization methods analyzed include specially constructed open burn piles called Conservation Burns and several types of containers called Flame Cap Kilns.
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