Turning waste into high worth - sustainably
Charcurtain Machine
A practical way to deal with slash, wilding pines at source, and unlock new income
The BiocharTP Charcurtain Machine
The Charcurtain Machine that is the cleaner alternative for managing forestry slash, storm debris, and invasive vegetation.
- No hauling, dumping, or burn-offs
- Leaves behind clean biochar
“What is an Charcurtain Machine?”
A highly efficient combustion system designed to cleanly and quickly dispose of wood waste and forestry slash in a safe, contained environment, with minimal smoke and emissions.
Purpose: To ‘pyrolyse’ large volumes of vegetative waste (like logs, branches, stumps, and slash) cleanly, efficiently, and on-site, without any preprocessing.
- Burns biomass at high temperatures – up to 1,100◦c
- Uses a curtain of air across the top of the burn chamber to:
Keep heat in, eliminate smoke and manage a complete combustion
- A clean, fast, and portable method of woody waste disposal
- Produces a valuable product called Biochar – about 8% of input
Key Features of the Charcurtain Machine
- High-efficiency burn | High carbon yield, minimizes emissions
- Easy to operate | Field-ready with minimal training
- Durable build | Designed for rugged environments
- Minimal operational costs | One operator, 6 litres diesel/hr, 500 litres water/hr
🌱 Why Biochar?
- Carbon permanence: Lock carbon in the soil for centuries.
- Soil health: Improve water retention, microbial activity, and crop yields
- Waste reduction: Turn slash, trimmings, and invasive biomass into a valuable resource
- Revenue potential: Sell biochar or earn carbon credits
- Sustainable forestry: Support circular land management practices
Efficient slash management
The BiocharTP Charcurtain Machine
- Reduces fire risk
- Processes slash quickly at source
- Much cleaner than open burning
- Reduces storm damage
- Is portable, deploy in remote forests
- Sequesters Carbon with near
permanent removal - Makes Biochar which is a valuable soil
conditioner - Creates a saleable product
Wilding pines are a growing threat across New Zealand
- An invasive species spreading across NZ’s landscapes
- Reducing native biodiversity
- Smothering plant communities, and altering iconic landscapes
- Increased wildfire risk, putting property and lives at risk
- Urgent need for scalable, effective removal tools – that can generate an economic return.
Effective Wilding Pine removal
The BiocharTP Charcurtain Machine
- Rapidly eliminates felled wilding pines
- Reduces biomass transport requirements
- Clean process with valuable residues
- Efficiently manages large volumes of wilding pines
- Allows revegetation/natural regeneration or return to productive farmland.
How it works
1.Manifold nozzles direct air across the top of the fire to create a lid to load through
2.Air curtain traps the smoke & particulates. The smoke heats, gasifies and creates a secondary burn @ approx. 1,100◦C
3.Thick, tough firebox walls reflect the heat in
4.Wood waste like slash or pine: loaded through air curtain
5.Extra air flows down, over oxygenating the fire for more complete & faster combustion
6.Grate shakes to drop, decomposing, hot embers through.
7.Grate shaker keeps embers moving.
8.Embers fall onto slow-moving screws (augers).
9.Screws turn slowly, giving embers more cooking time.
10.Elevator lifts embers up.
11.Water sprays to quench the embers.
12.Magnetic Roller collects any metallic items
13.Crusher breaks char down to a consistent size.
14.Char drops into 1000kg bags ready to go.
Safe Operating Conditions
Our Charcurtain Machine significantly reduces emissions compared to open burning of forestry and wood waste.
96%
The Air Curtain Burners that is the cleaner alternative for managing forestry slash, storm debris, and invasive vegetation.
85%
Carbon Monoxide (CO): Reduced by up to 85%, under combustion conditions.
PLUS
- Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs): Significantly lower VOC emissions due to controlled burn environment.
- Black Carbon (Soot): Significant reductions through the high-velocity air curtain, limiting smokey discharges.
- Greenhouse Gases (GHGs): Lower overall CO₂-equivalent emissions compared to open pile burning, because of 10+ percent of the wood waste turning into biochar.
Biochar is used in NZ agriculture
- Improves drought resistance
- Improves fertiliser efficiency
- Reduces nutrient losses and leaching
- Mix with effluent slurry to retain mineralised fertalisers
- Boosts crop yields
- When fed to livestock – can improve health, milk production, weight gain and reduce methane
Our biochar has real benefits
- BiocharTP’s Air Curtain Burner produces biochar – approx. 10% of input by mass
- Biochar sequesters carbon
- Biochar enhances soil fertility, water retention, and microbial life
- Helps reduce methane in livestock
- Makes you money (more on that shortly!)
What are the returns — and do they stack up?
We’ve crunched the numbers so you don’t have to. Here’s what each unit can realistically deliver, based on conservative estimates and real operating conditions.
How the 4-Tonne Unit Adds Up
A Practical On-Farm Option for farmers and small contractors
4T
4-5 tonne/hour unit, running ~60% of the year
Processes ~21,600 tonnes of waste per year
Produces ~2,160 tonnes of biochar (10+ % of input)
Sells for ~+$875 tonne/$350 m3 bag or used on-farm
Operating costs: fuel, labour, transport, packaging
Result: ~$595K profit per year (est) EBITDA
Bigger Machine, Bigger Returns
The 13T unit is a commercial-scale opportunity for forestry teams, co-ops, or regional operators
13T
13-tonne/hour unit, running ~60% of the year
Processes ~70,200 tonnes of waste per year
Produces ~7,020 tonnes of biochar (10+ % of input)
Sells for ~$875 tonne/$350 m3 bag or used on-farm
Operating costs: fuel, labour, transport, packaging
Result: $4.4M profit per year (est) EBITDA
ETS Income – The possibility
There is still a process to go through to get certified
– however, slash is currently accounted in the ETS as credits that need to be surrendered – a different approach is required for wilding pines.
Cyclone Gabrielle exposed the danger of unmanaged slash
Environmental Impacts:
- Habitat loss and degradation
- Erosion and sedimentation
- Waterway blockages and increased flood risk
Environmental Impacts:
- Damage to infrastructure
- Property damage + cleaning costs
- Community safety
- Economic / tourism impacts
Solve a problem, help your land
- Supports circular forestry
- Turns forestry waste into a valuable product
- Supports clean burning regulations
- Adds value to forestry operations
- Portable units ideal for rugged terrain
- Proven performance in local trials
- Can operate off-grid with diesel
