Chabon Demo

 Top:  Mr. Andre (also known as Tonton Noel or Santa) instructs his team on the alternative charcoal making process.  The scrap paper, cardboard and sawdust are thoroughly doused in water.

 The resulting paste is then transferred into another 55 gallon drum where it is mixed with what looks like a huge eggbeater.  It is then put on large metal disks that are perforated on top of the original drums to recover as much water as possible.  The paste is them stuffed into 4 inch PVC tubes (also perforated) with plastic separators every four inches or so.  The tubes are put on a hydraulic press operated by hand.  Makes about 100 4 inch round briquettes which are placed on the drying screens below.  Nifty, huh?

Chabon

Chabon (Creole for charcoal) Project is coming along.  The top part is a working surface that is slightly angled so the run off water goes back into the lower tanks.  The bottom hole will contain two tanks or wet areas that will allow us to turn paper, cardboard, wood chips... into mulch.  The mulch is then squeezed so most of the water returns to the tanks.  It will then be placed in forms and we'll use hydraulic jacks to remove the rest of the water.  The raw material now has to spend a day or two in the sun and-- VOILA -- chabon.