What is wood vinegar?
Recovery of chemicals from the vapours given off when hardwood is converted to charcoal was once a flourishing industry. However, as soon as the heavily subsidized petrochemical industry developed, wood as a source of methanol, acetic acid, specialty tars and preservatives became uneconomic. But with the advent of higher prices for organic food and organic living, wood vinegar is making a vigorous globally resurgence.
Wherever charcoal is made the possibility of recovering by-products should be discussed.
By adding a simple metal pipe to a large 180$ Cookswell drum kiln - you can collect appx. 1-2 liters of wood vinegar per 9 hour cycle while producing appx. 20-30kgs of lumpwood charcoal or biochar from appx. 100kgs of air dried wood.
Wood vinegar is another name for pyroligneous acid and is the crude condensate of smoke that consists mainly of water.
The non-water component consists of wood tars, both water soluble and insoluble, acetic acid, methanol, acetone and other complex chemicals in small amounts. When left to stand, the pyroligneous acid separates into two layers comprising the water insoluble tar and a watery layer containing the remaining chemicals aka 'smoke water' inclduing karrikins.
Simple decant it into glass bottles and let the tars settle for 12 weeks or so.
Physicochemistry and Utilization of Wood Vinegar from Carbonization of Tropical Biomass Waste
Y. Theapparat, A. Chandumpai, D. Faroongsarng
Published 1 August 2018
Tropical Forests - New Edition
Pyroligneous acid also called wood vinegar is an aqueous liquid produced from pyrolysis of lignocellulose waste and biomass. In general, the pyrolysis types are classified base on heating rate mainly either fast or slow pyrolysis. The characteristic and properties of wood vinegar are primarily influenced by the type of carbonaceous feedstocks as well as the production techniques. Wood vinegar is a complex mixture of polar and non-polar chemicals with various molecular weights and compositions. Its major constituent is water (80–90%). Some physical properties; such as pH, specific gravity, dissolved tar content are, respectively, within the range of 2–4, 1.005–1.016 g/mL, 0.23–0.89% wt, and color, odor and transparency have been reported.
Pyroligneous acid also called wood vinegar is an aqueous liquid produced from pyrolysis of lignocellulose waste and biomass. In general, the pyrolysis types are classified base on heating rate mainly either fast or slow pyrolysis. The characteristic and properties of wood vinegar are primarily influenced by the type of carbonaceous feedstocks as well as the production techniques. Wood vinegar is a complex mixture of polar and non-polar chemicals with various molecular weights and compositions. Its major constituent is water (80–90%). Some physical properties; such as pH, specific gravity, dissolved tar content are, respectively, within the range of 2–4, 1.005–1.016 g/mL, 0.23–0.89% wt, and color, odor and transparency have been reported.
In addition, the degree of Brix was ranged between 1.7 and 6.6. Besides water, the chemical compositions of wood vinegars consisted of acetic acid with the largest component (30.45–70.60 mg.mL ). A high number of phenol derivatives have been found and those in higher concentrations were 4-propyl-2-methoxyphenol (5–11 mg.mL ) followed by 2-methylphenol (2–4 mg.mL ). Wood vinegar has been regarded as a natural product, which claimed to be capable in several fields of application. In agriculture, wood vinegar has been used in vegetable cropping in order to combat disease, pest control, improve growth and fruit quality, seed germination accelerator as well as herbicide.
In pharmaceutical and medical applications, it is used for the preparation of detoxification pad while in veterinary and animal production, incorporation of the wood vinegar in feed could promote acidity in large intestine to inhibit growth of enteropathogenic microbes. In food processing, wood vinegar has a characteristic smoke flavor, and also exhibits microbial growth inhibition. In addition, several investigators reported that bio-oil and wood vinegar obtained from fast pyrolysis and carbonization showed a high potential on organic wood preservative. In summary, the wood vinegar prepared from the tropical wood and/or biomass waste is widely beneficial.
The chapter attempts to provide essential knowledge relevant to physicochemical characteristics of wood vinegar and its applications. © 2018 The Author(s). Licensee IntechOpen. This chapter is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited
Evaluation the vegetative growth of eggplant (Solanum melongena L.) as affected by pyroligneous
acids produced from different wood species are very much important. Pyroligneous acid was prepared by using the wood species of Gliricidia sepium, Cinnamomum zeylanicum, Acacia leucopholea, and Azadirachta indica. Different concentrations (0%, 0.25%, 0.50%, 0.75%, and 1.0%) of the Pyroligneous acid were applied as a foliar spray (50ml/plant) with one-week intervals when the plant is having 4-5 leaves per each plant. Eggplant (Solanum melongena L.) used as the test plant for the experiment. A pot experiment was laid out in Complete Randomized Design (CRD) with twenty treatment combinations and four replications. Treatments were applied four times with one-week interval. Numbers of leaves, plant height, stem girth, number of branches was collected as the growth parameters.
Data were collected one week after the application of each treatment. Results revealed that, applicationof 1% pyroligneous acid for Solanum melongena plant has significantly increased 20% of the mean number of leaves, 20% of the mean plant height, 10% of stem girth, 40% of number of branches when compared to the control(0%). Among the Pyroligneous acid prepared from different species 1% concentration of the acid prepared from Gliricidia sepium acids showed the significantly highest number of branches when compared with other treatments.
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/350386301_Effects_of_pyroligneous_acids_wood_vinegar_produced_from_different_wood_species_on_vegetative_growth_of_eggplant_Solanum_melongena_L
The Appropriate Technology Association of Thailand recommends the following wood vinegar/water solution rates for various farm uses:
• Repel nematodes – Tomatoes, 1:500 (apply to the base of plants); strawberries, 1:200 (apply to the base of plants); and black pepper vines, 1:1500 (apply in place of water).
• Repel insect pests – Cabbage and Chinese cabbage, 1:1500 (apply in place of water); corn 1:300 (spray onto leaves).
• Control of fungal diseases – Tomato and cucumber, 1:200 (spray onto leaves).
• Control of root rot – Tomato and cucumber, 1:200 (apply to the base of plants).
• Reduce incidence of chili pepper flowers aborting – 1:300 (spray onto leaves).
• Improve flavor of sweet fruits and stimulate development of crops. Mix solution rates of 1:500 to 1:1000. Wood vinegar prevents excessive nitrogen levels, improves plant metabolism and contributes to higher fruit sugar levels.
• Stimulate compost production. A solution rate of 1:100 will help increase the biological activity of various beneficial microbes and can decrease composting times.
• Combat bad odor. A wood vinegar solution of 1:50 will diminish the production of odor-causing ammonia in animal pens.
• Supplement for livestock feed. Mixed with livestock feed at rates of between 1:200 and 1:300, wood vinegar can adjust bacterial levels in the animal digestive tract which improve the absorption of nutrients from feed.
• Enrich garden soil. Use a strong solution of 1:30 to apply to the garden soil surface at a rate of 6 liters of solution per 1m² to enrich the soil prior to planting crops. To control soil-based plant pathogens, use an even stronger rate of application.
Various feedstocks provide various grades and compositions of wood vinegar and charcoal
Specific Farm Uses for Wood Vinegar:
Evaluation the vegetative growth of eggplant (Solanum melongena L.) as affected by pyroligneous
acids produced from different wood species are very much important. Pyroligneous acid was prepared by using the wood species of Gliricidia sepium, Cinnamomum zeylanicum, Acacia leucopholea, and Azadirachta indica. Different concentrations (0%, 0.25%, 0.50%, 0.75%, and 1.0%) of the Pyroligneous acid were applied as a foliar spray (50ml/plant) with one-week intervals when the plant is having 4-5 leaves per each plant. Eggplant (Solanum melongena L.) used as the test plant for the experiment. A pot experiment was laid out in Complete Randomized Design (CRD) with twenty treatment combinations and four replications. Treatments were applied four times with one-week interval. Numbers of leaves, plant height, stem girth, number of branches was collected as the growth parameters.
Data were collected one week after the application of each treatment. Results revealed that, applicationof 1% pyroligneous acid for Solanum melongena plant has significantly increased 20% of the mean number of leaves, 20% of the mean plant height, 10% of stem girth, 40% of number of branches when compared to the control(0%). Among the Pyroligneous acid prepared from different species 1% concentration of the acid prepared from Gliricidia sepium acids showed the significantly highest number of branches when compared with other treatments.
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/350386301_Effects_of_pyroligneous_acids_wood_vinegar_produced_from_different_wood_species_on_vegetative_growth_of_eggplant_Solanum_melongena_L
The Appropriate Technology Association of Thailand recommends the following wood vinegar/water solution rates for various farm uses:
• Repel nematodes – Tomatoes, 1:500 (apply to the base of plants); strawberries, 1:200 (apply to the base of plants); and black pepper vines, 1:1500 (apply in place of water).
• Repel insect pests – Cabbage and Chinese cabbage, 1:1500 (apply in place of water); corn 1:300 (spray onto leaves).
• Control of fungal diseases – Tomato and cucumber, 1:200 (spray onto leaves).
• Control of root rot – Tomato and cucumber, 1:200 (apply to the base of plants).
• Reduce incidence of chili pepper flowers aborting – 1:300 (spray onto leaves).
• Improve flavor of sweet fruits and stimulate development of crops. Mix solution rates of 1:500 to 1:1000. Wood vinegar prevents excessive nitrogen levels, improves plant metabolism and contributes to higher fruit sugar levels.
• Stimulate compost production. A solution rate of 1:100 will help increase the biological activity of various beneficial microbes and can decrease composting times.
• Combat bad odor. A wood vinegar solution of 1:50 will diminish the production of odor-causing ammonia in animal pens.
• Supplement for livestock feed. Mixed with livestock feed at rates of between 1:200 and 1:300, wood vinegar can adjust bacterial levels in the animal digestive tract which improve the absorption of nutrients from feed.
• Enrich garden soil. Use a strong solution of 1:30 to apply to the garden soil surface at a rate of 6 liters of solution per 1m² to enrich the soil prior to planting crops. To control soil-based plant pathogens, use an even stronger rate of application.
A 2 hour cooling phase of the kiln before extracting the lumpwood charcoal
Or even make biochar and vinegar from any feedstock including green house waste from flower farms.
Or invasive species like lantana camera and prosopis juliflora
And with many thanks to www.seedballskenya.com - we are also including a packet of indigenous acacia xanthopholea, sesbania sesban and kirkii tree seeds so you can grow a life time supply of free woodfuel, wood vinegar, biochar and tar.
For more information about wood vinegar and wood vinegar suppliers in Africa, please see these links below:
https://www.efk.co.ke/product/croton-vinegar/ (Kenya)
https://www.slideshare.net/HenryAbraham4/web-waoc-presentation-on-organic-farming-aid-wood-vinegar (Ghana)
And for further reading:
http://tom-yoshimoto.com/a12.pdf
http://www.pyroligneousacid.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/Wood-vinegar-a-by-product-from-rural-charcoal-kilns-and-its-role-in-plant-protection.pdf
http://www.academia.edu/13417330/Impacts_of_Pyroligneous_Acid_to_Biological_and_Chemical_Properties_of_Depleted_Soil_in_Bohol_Philippines
http://gardenprofessors.com/smoke-em-if-youve-got-em/
http://paleomagazine.com/is-liquid-smoke-paleo
https://www.sciencepublishinggroup.com/journal/paperinfo?journalid=601&doi=10.11648/j.jeece.20210604.13
http://www.hindawi.com/journals/amse/2015/303212/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iemTPlACxLs
http://www.woodvinegarusa.com/
https://verdilife.com/field-studies/
Please get in touch with us at cookswelljikos@gmail.com if you have any suggestions, comments, questions or would like to pick some up for a trial for free!
http://www.hindawi.com/journals/amse/2015/303212/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iemTPlACxLs
http://www.woodvinegarusa.com/
https://verdilife.com/field-studies/
Please get in touch with us at cookswelljikos@gmail.com if you have any suggestions, comments, questions or would like to pick some up for a trial for free!
