Black is Green Pty Ltd

BiGchar Continuous Carbonisation Technology

BIG’s patented fast rotary hearth technology was developed to satisfy a need for cost effective conversion of waste biomass to charcoal and energy. The key features of our technology are:

1. Low processing costs

• Mobile or relocatable pyrolysis units have been designed to cope with dispersed and seasonal feedstocks. This can avoid the high cost of transporting biomass to centralised facilities. The standard mobile unit is the BiGchar 2200, designed for mobilization on a 2 tonne flat bed truck. The most nimble unit is the BiGchar 1000, designed for mobilization and use on a small trailer towed by a one tonne utility vehicle, a car or even a donkey.
   

• Where suitable feedstock is available at a fixed site then larger relocatable or modular BiGchar unit of similar design can be employed – with the added benefit of additional value from harnessing the major energy released via their flue
   

• All units are designed for simple continuous process and they can be fully automated for standalone operation
   

• All units have a low power requirement and they do not depend on gas or oil for startup and operation
   

• Capital costs are kept low by using simple design, smart technology and readily available materials and components. We believe the BiGchar technology is the lowest cost charcoal process available in Australia that will produce at a commercially viable throughput while meeting current environmental and industrial safety standards.
   

• The capital cost for existing competing technologies start at more than $2M per tonne per hour of biomass, but BiGchar systems start at $0.5M per tonne per hour of biomass

2. Feedstock flexibility

• BiGchar technology accepts a great variety of feedstocks, including algae, manures, paunch waste, grass, cane trash, nut shells, sawdust, chipped or ground wood and greenwaste, paper, cardboard and vegetable waste: basically, if the feed can be ignited, then it can be BiGcharred.
   

• There is a minimal requirement for pre-sizing of feed: material as fine as algal powder or as coarse as woody shards 25 mm thick by 200 mm long can be processed.
   

• The design of the BiGchar units is quite tolerant of feed contaminated by soil, rocks, wire, metal and rope: such contaminants wreak havoc on many competing designs for continuous throughput.
   

• The process tolerates high moisture in its feedstock (but functions more productively with low moisture content). The preferred moisture content is less than 35%, but the units can provide heat for an external dryer with feed moisture as high as 60%

Click here to visit our photo gallery "From biomass to BiGchar".