Patent ID: 8303777

Claim:
Apparatus for continuous manufacture of charcoal, comprising a unit having: chamber walls defining a chamber having a trough and a primary combustion space, in which an upper one of said walls defines a ceiling for said primary combustion space; a material inlet for allowing a feed of wood chips through said material inlet into said trough, said trough being located at a lower height than said material inlet such that material passing through said material inlet is able to fall into the trough; a first air inlet located in a first one of said chamber walls and below the material inlet such that, when wood chips are located within the trough piled up to said material inlet, air passing from said air inlet passes through said wood-chips and into the primary combustion space; and a second air inlet providing a flow of air downwards from said ceiling into said primary combustion space; wherein said material inlet comprises a downwardly extending passageway defined by a material inlet wall extending downwards from said ceiling, said material inlet wall separating said passageway from said primary combustion space, such that heat generated within said primary combustion space passes through said material inlet wall into said passageway.