The Diverse Benefits of Biochar
The term “biochar” refers to a material made from wood or other biomass that has been pyrolyzed under low oxygen conditions to produce a carbon-rich, porous, and stable material. Although there are numerous uses for biochar, three common ones are:
- Soil amendment: biochar can be added to improve the ground’s physical, chemical, or biological properties. This enhances the soil’s ability to support plant growth and development. Mixing biochar with soil on farms and in forests can help address various issues, such as soil compaction, poor drainage, low nutrient availability, or imbalanced pH levels.
- Livestock farming: Incorporating biochar into animal bedding or feed can reduce ammonia emissions from manure, improve animal health, and potentially enhance feed efficiency. Additionally, nutrient-rich manure mixed with biochar can be used as an even more valuable soil amendment.
- Bioenergy production: The process of creating biochar through pyrolysis also generates energy in the form of syngas and bio-oil, which can be used for heating or as a renewable energy source.
Get the most out of your biochar production equipment for any need or application. Call RMS today at (605) 368-9007.
The Best Methods for Grinding Biochar
While biochar has many useful applications, many steps are involved in its production to ensure it delivers the intended benefits. One area in particular that needs careful attention is generating a consistent particle size using a biochar crusher. Different applications require different grind profiles to ensure optimal results.
Particle size reduction poses several safety and usage challenges. Hammer mills are frequently used as biochar production equipment. However, due to the hammer mill’s operational design, they can generate excessive powder fines, which are often too small to utilize effectively and can even explode under the wrong conditions.
Simply replacing hammer mills with single pair roller mills can resolve these more serious issues, and can providing more consistency in the quality of the grind.
Roller Mills: The Best Biochar Production Equipment
More general information on the advantages of a Roller Mill vs a Hammer Mill can be found in this post. Specifically in the case of biochar, roller mills have the distinct advantage of being able to strip off just the char during the grinding processes. This allows for the re-burning of any remaining un-charred wood.
Conversely, hammer mills will pulverize all the material put through them, including the unburnt wood. This leads to splinters being incorporated into the final output, and contaminating the end product. Salvaging material creates an additional step of sorting the biochar by hand or using an automated process. Roller mills avoid this issue entirely.
The Best Roller Mill for Grinding Biochar
More general information on the advantages of a Roller Mill vs a Hammer Mill can be found in this post. Specifically in the case of biochar, roller mills have the distinct advantage of being able to strip off just the char during the grinding processes. This allows for the re-burning of any remaining un-charred wood.
Conversely, hammer mills will pulverize all the material put through them, including the unburnt wood. This leads to splinters being incorporated into the final output, and contaminating the end product. Salvaging material creates an additional step of sorting the biochar by hand or using an automated process. Roller mills avoid this issue entirely.
Bonus Tip for Improving Your Biochar Crusher
Grinding for biochar can wear out standard rolls faster. As a result, you might consider upgrading to the Endurance Roll Program for longer-lasting rolls for your biochar production equipment.
This premier RMS service helps our customers increase their machine’s uptime, reduce the lifetime cost of the machine, and ensure that everyone who uses their mill understands the best practices for operating and maintaining it.
ABOUT RMS ROLLER GRINDER
RMS Roller-Grinder builds and services quality particle size-reduction equipment and accessories for our customers’ unique applications. Whatever your process requires, RMS can help you choose the appropriate biochar production equipment for scaling your business and keeping production running smoothly. We will ensure you receive the best and most reliable products and support. Our goal is to leave you with peace of mind by doing whatever it takes to remove the troubles and frustration from your milling and grain operations.
Interested in learning more about how RMS can help you achieve the grind you need?
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