Post by Trade facilitator on Dec 28, 2022 20:55:24 GMT 1
Coconut Shell Charcoal: Its Environmental Friendliness And Huge Export Potential
Coconut Shell Charcoal is an important product obtained from coconut shells. Shell charcoal is used widely as domestic and industrial fuel. It is also used by blacksmiths and goldsmiths and in laundries.
Coconut Shell Charcoal is also used to produce activated carbon. Activated Carbon produced from coconut shells has certain specific advantages as the raw material can adsorb certain molecular species.
The coconut shell charcoal is manufactured by burning shells of fully matured nuts in a limited supply of air sufficient only for carbonization, but not for complete destruction.
The output of charcoal in the traditional pith method is just below 30 percent of the weight of the original shells. To obtain good quality charcoal, fully dried, clean, mature shells are recommended for use.
What Is The Beauty Of Coconut Shell Charcoal?
Coconut shell charcoal briquettes are made from used coconut shells, a by-product of the coconut industry. As no trees are felled or deforested in making coconut charcoal, it is widely acknowledged as being more sustainable and better for the environment than normal timber-based charcoal.
Coconut charcoal also performs very well. It lasts much longer and burns far hotter than normal charcoal.
Among all types of charcoal, coconut shells are one of the most favorable and eco-friendly products, which is made from sustainable natural resources.
How You Make Briquettes From Coconut Shell Charcoal:
Coconut shell charcoal is the by-product of pyrolysis process which involves burning coconut shells in a limited supply of oxygen in order to carbonize it first. After that, coconut shell charcoal is crushed into powder and mixed with adhesive to manufacture different shapes and sizes of charcoal briquettes. Drying and packaging are final steps to carry out before launching coconut shell charcoal.
Manufacturing process includes a variety of phases but it can be included in 2 main stages:
Stage 1- Carbonizing – Cooling:
This stage turns raw material into coconut shell charcoal in different sizes: 3 x 6, 5 x 10, 6 x 12, etc.
- Carbonizing time: 3 – 5 days with average temperature: 400-600˚C (creating black charcoal)
Coconut shell charcoal is increasingly popular because of its own advantages. It is completely eco-friendly, safe to use and easy to inflame plus its high level of calorific value, as a whole coconut shell charcoal becomes widely used in the food industry.
Coconut shell charcoal shall be of the following two types:
Type I – Coconut shell charcoal – pieces.
Type II – Coconut shell charcoal - granulated.
Simple Mud Pits/ Brick Lined Pits:
It is basically a simple old process, consisting of burning the shells in a limited supply of air, so that the shells are only carbonized and not burnt to ash. The tricky part of this operation is to set the optimum conditions for carbonization to the correct degree.
The charcoal manufactured by this method is of inferior quality, containing a lot of impurities. Moreover, emission of a lot of smoke and flute gasses during the process causes atmospheric pollution.
Process (Drum Method):
A M.S. Drum kiln is used for carbonization of shells. The drum consists of three sets of six 1" diameter holes provided at its bottom, middle and upper layers and a lid. A detachable chimney is provided which is installed on the lid after closing the drum.
The manufacture of charcoal requires optimum carbonization of raw shells in a limited supply of air so that there is neither un-burnt shell nor ash due to complete combustion.
The steel drum is filled with raw shells after placing temporarily a four inch diameter wooden pole in the center of the drum. The wooden pole is then removed, leaving a hollow space in the center which allows the flow of smoke
during carbonization.
To start carbonization, a piece of burning rag is dropped to the bottom of
the drum through the hollow space in the center. When the fire is well underway, the lid with the chimney is placed into position and the upper and the middle sets of holes are closed.
Carbonization which starts at the bottom progresses as it goes up as well as radially from the hollow space. When carbonization is complete in a particular zone, a persistent glow can be seen in all the six holes of a set. When the bottom most set of holes indicate this situation, the middle set of holes is opened and the bottom set closed.
The stoppage of air flowing into the bottom region avoids over-carbonization in that region. The progressive carbonization results in reduction in volume of contents and therefore more shells are added from the top. When the
the middle region is carbonized well, the top set of holes is opened while the middle set is now closed. A further addition of raw shells is done to fill the volume reduction to maximize capacity
Properties of Shell Charcoal:
Good coconut shell charcoal is uniformly dark and snaps with a clean shining fracture and produces a metallic sound, when dropped on hard ground. Under burnt shells do not give a metallic sound and clean fractures; while the over burnt ones are friable and the surface of the fracture sounds dull when dropped and easily crumbles. Coconut shell charcoal contains the highest percentage of fixed carbons of all the lignaceous charcoal.
The average composition of good coconut charcoal is:
-Moisture 6.24%
- volatile 5.46 %
- ash 0.54% and
- fixed carbon 87.76%.
The quality standards for shell charcoal as per Asian and Pacific Coconut Community (APCC) are as follows:
Moisture - Less than 10%
Ash - Not more than 2%
Volatile matter - Not more than 15%
Fixed carbon - Not more than 75%
Foreign matter - Not more than 0.5%
Colour - Black
Size - Not more than 5%, shall pass a 0.63 cm mesh sieve.
Uses of Coconut Shell Charcoal:
The charcoal has a high adsorption capacity for gasses and colouring matter and can therefore be used as a refining agent both as a deodorizer and as a decolorizer.
The charcoal is used by goldsmiths in melting gold and silver and for other metal works. The commercial value of shell charcoal lies in its use as the primary raw material for the production of activated carbon. It also finds very good demand as an industrial fuel to substitute furnace oil.
Export Potential of Shell Charcoal:
Exporters and investors with passion for export of Coconut shell charcoal have been cashing out on this product mainly because the nation’s customs had activated the ban on timber charcoal from the country for some time now.
It will interest you to know that it was the World Bank that alerted the Federal Government of Nigeria about the damages caused by excessive felling of timber in the country to produce charcoal.
This has led to investors going into coconut shell charcoal to achieve the same aim that timber charcoal will achieve.
The export potential of this product is huge and it is begging investors and experienced exporters to key in.
Our company is one of the best Agro-Export Business in Nigeria today, we train individuals and corporate organizations on how to do Export Business the right way; if you are interested, please contact the admin of this forum now for further details.
Coconut Shell Charcoal is also used to produce activated carbon. Activated Carbon produced from coconut shells has certain specific advantages as the raw material can adsorb certain molecular species.
The coconut shell charcoal is manufactured by burning shells of fully matured nuts in a limited supply of air sufficient only for carbonization, but not for complete destruction.
The output of charcoal in the traditional pith method is just below 30 percent of the weight of the original shells. To obtain good quality charcoal, fully dried, clean, mature shells are recommended for use.
What Is The Beauty Of Coconut Shell Charcoal?
Coconut shell charcoal briquettes are made from used coconut shells, a by-product of the coconut industry. As no trees are felled or deforested in making coconut charcoal, it is widely acknowledged as being more sustainable and better for the environment than normal timber-based charcoal.
Coconut charcoal also performs very well. It lasts much longer and burns far hotter than normal charcoal.
Among all types of charcoal, coconut shells are one of the most favorable and eco-friendly products, which is made from sustainable natural resources.
How You Make Briquettes From Coconut Shell Charcoal:
Coconut shell charcoal is the by-product of pyrolysis process which involves burning coconut shells in a limited supply of oxygen in order to carbonize it first. After that, coconut shell charcoal is crushed into powder and mixed with adhesive to manufacture different shapes and sizes of charcoal briquettes. Drying and packaging are final steps to carry out before launching coconut shell charcoal.
Manufacturing process includes a variety of phases but it can be included in 2 main stages:
Stage 1- Carbonizing – Cooling:
This stage turns raw material into coconut shell charcoal in different sizes: 3 x 6, 5 x 10, 6 x 12, etc.
- Carbonizing time: 3 – 5 days with average temperature: 400-600˚C (creating black charcoal)
Coconut shell charcoal is increasingly popular because of its own advantages. It is completely eco-friendly, safe to use and easy to inflame plus its high level of calorific value, as a whole coconut shell charcoal becomes widely used in the food industry.
Coconut shell charcoal shall be of the following two types:
Type I – Coconut shell charcoal – pieces.
Type II – Coconut shell charcoal - granulated.
Simple Mud Pits/ Brick Lined Pits:
It is basically a simple old process, consisting of burning the shells in a limited supply of air, so that the shells are only carbonized and not burnt to ash. The tricky part of this operation is to set the optimum conditions for carbonization to the correct degree.
The charcoal manufactured by this method is of inferior quality, containing a lot of impurities. Moreover, emission of a lot of smoke and flute gasses during the process causes atmospheric pollution.
Process (Drum Method):
A M.S. Drum kiln is used for carbonization of shells. The drum consists of three sets of six 1" diameter holes provided at its bottom, middle and upper layers and a lid. A detachable chimney is provided which is installed on the lid after closing the drum.
The manufacture of charcoal requires optimum carbonization of raw shells in a limited supply of air so that there is neither un-burnt shell nor ash due to complete combustion.
The steel drum is filled with raw shells after placing temporarily a four inch diameter wooden pole in the center of the drum. The wooden pole is then removed, leaving a hollow space in the center which allows the flow of smoke
during carbonization.
To start carbonization, a piece of burning rag is dropped to the bottom of
the drum through the hollow space in the center. When the fire is well underway, the lid with the chimney is placed into position and the upper and the middle sets of holes are closed.
Carbonization which starts at the bottom progresses as it goes up as well as radially from the hollow space. When carbonization is complete in a particular zone, a persistent glow can be seen in all the six holes of a set. When the bottom most set of holes indicate this situation, the middle set of holes is opened and the bottom set closed.
The stoppage of air flowing into the bottom region avoids over-carbonization in that region. The progressive carbonization results in reduction in volume of contents and therefore more shells are added from the top. When the
the middle region is carbonized well, the top set of holes is opened while the middle set is now closed. A further addition of raw shells is done to fill the volume reduction to maximize capacity
Properties of Shell Charcoal:
Good coconut shell charcoal is uniformly dark and snaps with a clean shining fracture and produces a metallic sound, when dropped on hard ground. Under burnt shells do not give a metallic sound and clean fractures; while the over burnt ones are friable and the surface of the fracture sounds dull when dropped and easily crumbles. Coconut shell charcoal contains the highest percentage of fixed carbons of all the lignaceous charcoal.
The average composition of good coconut charcoal is:
-Moisture 6.24%
- volatile 5.46 %
- ash 0.54% and
- fixed carbon 87.76%.
The quality standards for shell charcoal as per Asian and Pacific Coconut Community (APCC) are as follows:
Moisture - Less than 10%
Ash - Not more than 2%
Volatile matter - Not more than 15%
Fixed carbon - Not more than 75%
Foreign matter - Not more than 0.5%
Colour - Black
Size - Not more than 5%, shall pass a 0.63 cm mesh sieve.
Uses of Coconut Shell Charcoal:
The charcoal has a high adsorption capacity for gasses and colouring matter and can therefore be used as a refining agent both as a deodorizer and as a decolorizer.
The charcoal is used by goldsmiths in melting gold and silver and for other metal works. The commercial value of shell charcoal lies in its use as the primary raw material for the production of activated carbon. It also finds very good demand as an industrial fuel to substitute furnace oil.
Export Potential of Shell Charcoal:
Exporters and investors with passion for export of Coconut shell charcoal have been cashing out on this product mainly because the nation’s customs had activated the ban on timber charcoal from the country for some time now.
It will interest you to know that it was the World Bank that alerted the Federal Government of Nigeria about the damages caused by excessive felling of timber in the country to produce charcoal.
This has led to investors going into coconut shell charcoal to achieve the same aim that timber charcoal will achieve.
The export potential of this product is huge and it is begging investors and experienced exporters to key in.
Our company is one of the best Agro-Export Business in Nigeria today, we train individuals and corporate organizations on how to do Export Business the right way; if you are interested, please contact the admin of this forum now for further details.
