Manufacture and Properties of Wood Vinegar and Charcoal Produced from Bamboos and Thinned Woods at the Royal Agricultural Station Angkhang Using Thai-Iwate Kiln

Abstract

The studies on manufacture and properties of wood vinegar and charcoal produced from bamboos and thinned woods at the Royal Agricultural Station Angkhang using Thai-Iwate kiln were focused on 4 species, i.e. Bamboo mixed spicies, Acacia confusa, Liquidambar formosana and Fraxinus griffithii. The carbonization time consumed (full kiln : volume 12 m³) about 10 days. Charcoal from woods with different levels of moisture content had given different properties and yield of wood vinegar. The results showed wood vinegar properties varying in specific gravity between 1.006-1.016 and pH between 2.72-4.68. The color varied from brown to dark brown, with lucid bright and smoke smell. Wood vinegar from Bamboo mixed spicies showed red-brown color and clear than others. Properties of wood vinegar from bamboos were accepted as standard according to Japanese Wood Vinegar Association. Properties of charcoal, upper part of the kiln had fixed carbon more than lower part, but volatile matter and moisture content were lesser than lower part. In the same time, ash and heat contents had lesser value than upper part of the kiln.

Keywords: wood vinegar, charcoal, Thai-Iwate kiln, bamboo, Royal Project Foundation