As a part of the school program different classes in Lycée Technique Agricole (LU) are founding a “student company” to learn about the various processes involved in setting up a company.
One of the student companies at LTA, the group Kuallenmeiler consisting of 6 students, produces charcoal from regional beech wood using a traditional charcoal pile. The charcoal kiln method has been used for thousands of years but has almost completely disappeared due to industrialisation.
We asked the group about the experiences they made with the charcoal pile.
“In collaboration with the local municipality (Aerenzdallgemeng), we have been able to realise the burning of a charcoal kiln. We built two piles and then let them char in a controlled manner for a week. In short, a charcoal pile is a large pile of stacked beech wood, which is covered airtight with earth and then lit. As the wood was not perfectly dry it was unfortunately not completely charred after a week, but the process worked well for some of the wood. Now the charcoal needs to dry. Afterwards it will be packed in 10kg bags and sold. As we fortunately already have many pre-orders, we additionally produce charcoal with a machine to make sure we have enough. “
While the coal pile was burning the group of students organised an event so that interested people had the possibility to take part in this rare procedure.
Acknowledgements: many thanks to Theresa Babucke and Fons Logtenberg 🙂
Photo: from Theresa 🙂
