Making A Modified Drum Kiln

Modified Drum Kiln

1. Use an ordinary drum with 91 cm tall and 57 cm in diameter (55 gal).

2. Make a hole on top of the center about 10 cm wide (where the chimney can be placed).

3. Make equal holes on four sides about 1.5 cm in size and 30 cm spaced apart from each center, but the lowest is 2 to 3 cm from the bottom. (For example the second top is 30 cm apart from here then the third is the same).

Operation:

1. Place a piece of roundwood, about 4 inches in diameter at the center of the kiln.

2. Stack coconut shells around this makeshift chimney until the drum is full.

3. Remove the starting chimney and drop a piece of burning rag to the bottom of the drum until it ignited.

4. Cover the drum when the fire is well underway.

5. Gradually decrease the air opening.

6. Feed additional shells after sometime, when the volume of the charge shell have shrunk.

7. Carbonization is considered complete when the volume of the smoke thins out and becomes bluish.

8. When this happened all the holes are closed and the kiln is left to cool.

This procedure last 5 hours to finish charcoal making. The charcoal yield with this kiln design ranges from 27-30 per cent.

Tips for Good Quality Charcoal

1. Shiny and black in color, not reddish or greyish.

2. It sounds like metal when it falls on the floor. A good charcoal easily breaks but uncooked charcoal is hard and doesn't break easily.

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