How to make Coconut Shell Charcoal briquettes
Author : Fiacoco Briquettes - November, 10,2022
Foto : Briquettes Charcoal
Aged coconut shell charcoal is the main material for briquette charcoal, and it is gradually becoming popular all over the world. As a completely natural and environmentally friendly biomass, it can be used as a fuel substitute for firewood, kerosene, and other fossil fuels. Besides, it is also made into charcoal briquettes for shisha, cooking, BBQ, industrial boilers, etc.
Briquetting technology is expected to increase the added value of waste. Briquettes quality is influenced by several factors, one of which is the particle size of charcoal powder. The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of charcoal powder particle size on the the content of fixed carbon and volatile matter in charcoal briquettes. The research method was conducted by varying the particle size of charcoal powder, namely 10 mesh, 20 mesh, and 40 mesh. The research was carried out in several main stages, namely charring (carbonization), reduction of particle size (grinding), and particle size reduction (grinding), sieving, mixing raw materials, molding, drying, and testing charcoal briquettes. and testing of charcoal briquettes. The results showed that the resulting charcoal briquettes has an average fixed carbon content of 58.761% and volatile matter of 33.675% at a particle size of 10 mesh charcoal powder. At a particle size of 20 mesh, produced charcoal briquettes with an average fixed carbon content of 60.491% and volatile matter of 31.338%. While at 40 mesh size, it produces charcoal briquettes with an average fixed carbon content of 59.216% and volatile matter of 30.561%.
Coconut shell can be carbonized into charcoal directly by carbonization machine. We have different types of carbonization furnaces, almost all of them can be used to make coconut shell charcoal. For small-scale charcoal production, you can choose hoist type and horizontal airflow carbonization furnace. For large charcoal factory, you can choose continuous carbonization machine
Coconut shell charcoal keeps the shell shape or breaks into pieces after carbonization. Before making briquettes, you need to grind it into powder. Powdered charcoal is much easier to shape and can reduce machine wear.
Since charcoal powder has no viscosity, we need to add binder to help shape it into briquettes. With binders, the charcoal briquettes are denser and the surface is smoother. The most common binder is tapioca starch. They are food grade and there is no harmful gas after burning. Usually, the ratio of binder is 3-5%.
Regarding the moisture of charcoal, it should be 20-25% after mixing. In production, there is a good method to know the moisture is good or not. Take a handful of mixed charcoal and pinch it by hand. If the charcoal powder does not fall off, the moisture has reached the standard.
All charcoal briquettes are wet after being produced by the charcoal briquetting machine. So drying is necessary before they are used as fuel or sold in the market. There are undoubtedly two ways to dry charcoal briquettes. One is natural drying in the sun, the other is drying by machine.
To prevent soil or other impurities from sticking to the surface of charcoal briquettes, we suggest you put the briquettes on a tray, plastic cloth, etc. And it is better to put them on the shelf in case of rain or unexpected damage. It usually takes about 4-7 days to dry the briquettes completely by natural drying.
There are two types of dryers for drying charcoal briquettes: mesh belt dryer and box-type dryer.
Mesh belt dryer
The whole drying process is fully automatic and only 2-3 hours. Charcoal briquettes are fed into the dryer by a conveyor. Inside the dryer, there are 3-4 layers or more mesh belts. The charcoal briquettes move very slowly from one layer to another. Hot air flow from bottom to top removes moisture.
Oven-type charcoal dryer consists of heating system, exhaust system, insulation house, shelves, and trays. The drying theory is similar to airflow drying. Put charcoal briquettes on the tray and then place the tray on the rack. The hot air flow removes the moisture. You can choose combustion heating or electric heating. The drying time is about 5 hours, mainly affected by the heating temperature and the moisture of charcoal briquettes.
Advantages of coconut shell charcoal
Coconut shell charcoal comes from renewable resources, its production has no impact on deforestation.
Low ash residue
Ash can be used as fertilizer
Burning time 3+ hours
It burns hotter and longer than traditional charcoal
Requires less charcoal for barbeque
100% natural ingredients with no chemicals
Clean burning
Source:
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