Charcoal Production for Activated Carbon Raw Material

Charcoal characteristics are influenced by the raw materials used and the conditions of the production process. The use of charcoal for certain applications or industries also requires certain specifications or characteristics. For example, charcoal used for fuel can have different specification requirements from charcoal specifications for agriculture (biochar), or charcoal used as raw material for activated carbon. A number of parameters that are acceptable in certain applications may not be acceptable in other applications.

Charcoal products used as raw materials for activated carbon production are also the same. Parameters in the form of high fixed carbon (~80%), high hardness, low ash content (~3%) and low volatile matter (<10%) are prerequisites for the specifications or quality of charcoal as a raw material for activated carbon. As a comparison, charcoal for agriculture (soil amendment) or commonly called biochar has a wide range of quality or specifications, namely lower fixed carbon (FC), higher ash content and higher volatile matter, especially in agro type biochar according to WBC (World Biochar Certificate), while premium type biochar according to WBC has a higher or highest quality and can be used for various purposes. While the material type biochar according to WBC has the lowest quality with use mainly in certain industries such as cement, asphalt, plastic, electronics, and composite materials or cannot be used for agriculture, soil applications and consumer products.

Raw materials for charcoal production for activated carbon production because it requires stricter parameters, especially high fixed carbon, low ash content and high hardness so that raw materials suitable for this purpose are more limited or not all biomass can be used for charcoal production for activated carbon raw materials. This is what makes coconut shells the best and most popular raw material for charcoal production as activated carbon raw materials today. And palm kernel shell raw materials (especially from dura variety) are expected to be the next candidate. The availability of abundant palm kernel shells (PKS) is a special attraction. But indeed with this palm kernel shell (PKS) charcoal raw material, there is still the smell of palm oil, so it is a challenge for activated carbon producers.

Dessicated Coconut Factory and Continuous Pyrolysis

There are about 20 dessicated coconut factories operating in Indonesia or estimated to be more than 100 units worldwide. With an average capacity of 2 tons / hour, this dessicated coconut factory requires approximately 16,200 coconuts every hour. The byproducts produced are coconut shell and coconut water. Coconut shells produced are around 6 tons / hour and coconut water 4.2 tons / hour. The dessicated coconut plant needs electricity and heat to sterilize the coconut meat and drying the dessicated coconut. Energy in the form of electricity and heat can be met from the utilization of the coconut shell.

There are several technologies for utilizing these coconut shells so that products in the form of electricity and heat are obtained. The popular technology today is with a steam turbine boiler, with this technology the coconut shell is burned in a furnace and heats water in the boiler so that it produces steam to drive the turbine and then generate electricity through a generator. This technology is the same as in palm oil mills. In palm oil mill the fiber and part of the palm kernel shell (PKS) is used as fuel to produce electricity and steam is also used to sterilize fresh fruit bunches (FFB) before being processed into oil.

Another better technology is continuous pyrolysis. This in addition to producing electricity and heat also produces charcoal product. Coconut shell charcoal is high-quality charcoal and is much needed by a number of industries such as the briquette charcoal industry and activated carbon. In the pyrolysis technology the coconut shell is not burned directly, but is heated in a vacuum condition (absence of oxygen). Pyrolysis products such as syngas and biooil are used for electricity production and can also be heat, heat energy is also produced from the pyrolysis process itself which is exothermic, while charcoal is the main product of the pyrolysis process.

Reviving the Integrated Coconut Industry Part 8: Coconut Milk, VCO, Dessicated Coconut, Coconut Water, Nata de Coco, Shell Charcoal and Activated Carbon

Basically the campaign to save the coconut plantation (tree of life) is to revive the integrated coconut industry. Damaged and not maintained of coconut plantations due to lack of funding to maintain and develop it in a sustainable manner.

Bioeconomy is defined as knowledge-based production and uses biological resources or living things to produce products, processes, and services in the economic sector within the framework of a sustainable economic system.

Instant coconut milk or packaged coconut milk is almost unthinkable, especially by mothers in Indonesia a few decades ago. Likewise, bottled coconut water, almost all Indonesians were also unthinkable at that time. That is mainly because coconut is very easy to get in almost all corners of the country. But this condition changed when Asian cuisine began to worldwide so that many Western people like it. Coconut milk as one of the main elements of the dish has become a necessity that must be provided. Urban communities with dense population and have a high level of activity, need something practical and instant that makes instant coconut milk products easily accepted. It is also the same as instant food seasoning products that are in demand in urban areas.

Coconut milk and bottled coconut water industry is a type of large industry so it requires a supply of raw materials in large quantities and continuously. To get these conditions in general can only be in coconut plantations which are not infrequently still very remote location. At that location, electricity and a number of supporting infrastructure were not yet available, so the integrated coconut industry could not yet be operated. Electricity is one of the basic needs for industrial operations, so it needs to be made before running the integrated coconut industry such as industries with the main products are coconut milk and bottled coconut water. The production of electricity for this purpose can be done in at least two ways: first, with a steam boiler, as is usually done in a palm oil mill. Coconut coir which has the lowest economic value is used for fuel.

The second way, namely by continuous pyrolysis. Coconut shell can be used as raw material for the pyrolysis. With pyrolysis technology, it would be more profitable because besides electricity generated, heat and charcoal shells are also produced. Electricity and heat can be used for the operation of the coconut processing industry, while shell charcoal can be directly sold or further processed into briquettes or activated carbon. When the need for electricity is large, power plants can use both, namely coconut coir steam boilers and pyrolysis with raw materials for coconut shells. If you want to produce more charcoal, coconut coir can also be used for continuous pyrolysis fuel. The quality of coconut coir is lower than that of coconut shell. This is so that coconut coir charcoal can be used as agricultural charcoal (agri-char / biochar) so that it will increase the productivity of coconut plantations, while coconut shell charcoal for the purposes mentioned above.

Apart from being processed into packaged coconut milk, fruit meat can also be processed into VCO (Virgin Coconut Oil) or dessicated cooconut. VCO production can be done on a medium scale, but currently for the export market or foreign buyers in general require organic certificates. That is also the reason why the production of small-scale VCO for the export market is difficult. Basically, coconuts can be made for a variety of products, according to market needs. Almost all coconut processing industries require electricity and heat for the production process (specifically for the VCO industry, only electricity). The integrated coconut industry approach makes the coconut processing industry more efficient. The combination of the coconut processing industry adjusts to market needs. The dim market for copra & coconut oil, it turns out that little by little is substituted by increasing markets for dessicated coconut, VCO, coconut milk, nata de coco, bottled coconut water and even coconut sugar. Is it possible that the coconut will come back victorious? There are indications there indeed. Wallahu'alam 

Reviving the Integrated Coconut Industry Part 3

When continuous pyrolysis is used for processing coconut shells and producing charcoal and is not processed further into activated carbon, excess syngas and biooil can be used as energy sources for processing fruit flesh and coconut water. Fruit flesh and coconut water can be processed into a variety of products needed by the market. The production costs of various processed coconut products have become very competitive because energy costs are very minimal or even zero. In addition, energy needs can also be added from coconut fiber which is used as fuel as well. The energy source can be used for electricity or heat or both depending on industry needs.

If gliricidae is planted as a crop between coconut plantations, wood products will also be obtained. The wood can be used as raw material for wood pellets as an export commodity which is predicted to continue to increase demand in line with awareness of environmental problems and climate change. Gliricidae leaf waste can also be used as animal feed such as goats, sheep and cattle. Maintenance of gliricidae is very easy and planting patterns as intercropping with coconut plantations are also common in Sri Lanka. Land optimization can also be done by using land between coconut plantation and gliricidae as pasture fields such as goats, sheep and cattle and for beekeeping.

To make the business profitable and sustainable, professional management certainly needs to be applied in the business. Management of the upstream sector namely plantations and livestock should be separated from the downstream sector namely factory or plant as a processing unit. This is similar to the organization in the palm oil company which separates the plantation division from the factory or mill division. In addition to facilitating business operations, the business will become efficient and competitive.

Reviving the Integrated Coconut Industries in Indonesia

The absence of a market causes the coconut industry to not develop, stagnate and even tend to die. Although various products can be produced from coconut fruit but with a small product uptake is not able to turn on the coconut industry. When the products that the demanded by market are already obtained, such as CPO in the palm oil industry, it is possible for the coconut industry to stretch and rise and be taken into account. Modernization of technology also needs to be done so that the coconut industry becomes a modern industry even though the production capacity is not as big as the palm oil industry. Another factor needed to revive the integrated coconut industry and this is almost the same experienced by all industries in general that is the availability of energy. So that to meet the energy needs, not all coconut fruit should be processed, but some are used to produce energy, for example coconut fiber, because the economic value is the lowest.

Activated carbon is a product that has a very good market potential and with continuous pyrolysis technology followed by activation, the product can be produced without the need for additional external energy. Thus the activated carbon plant can stand on its own using its coconut shell waste. But to get the coconut shell, someone must process the coconut fruit. Products such as VCO, dedicated coconut, and coconut milk can be the main products so that the processing of the coconut fruit. The coconut water can be processed into isotonic drinks or nata de coco. The use of coir-fired boilers (if in a palm oil mill, high efficient boilers only use the fiber) or even fronds and leaves can be used for electricity and steam production. Similar to operations in palm oil mills as well, namely electricity can be used to move a variety of mechanical equipment for processing coconut and steam as well as a source of heat, especially if the processing of the coconut fruit does need it.

With the above pattern, the coconut industry can be operated even though the location is in a remote area and there is no electricity network there, a place where coconut plantations are located. Indonesia as a seduction country of coconut islands with the plantation area of almost 4 million hectares and the widest in the world today or the equivalent of 1/3 of palm oil plantations should be also the leader in the world coconut industry. 

Modernization Charcoal Production with Continuous Pyrolysis

Charcoal production and charcoal marketing have not been treated by strict rules such as wood pellets. This is mainly due to the large number of charcoal producers, with a small average production and traditional production technology. In addition, the market or buyer also does not require large volumes and long-term contracts. The quality factor remains an important standard, especially for the export market. But it could be that more stringent rules will also apply to production and marketing, given the potential damage caused. The low conversion of traditional charcoal kiln, which is an average of 15%, makes the need for wood raw materials extra, so that to produce 1 million tons of raw materials is needed about 6.5 million tons of wood. The approach to using efficient technology is increasingly urgent especially to serve large and continuous needs. Pyrolysis or continuous carbonization is the solution to this, with a conversion rate to charcoal reaching 30% or almost one third. With this efficient technology, only 3 million tons of wood is needed, or only half that means saving about 3 million tons of wood raw material.

Another motivation for using continuous pyrolysis technology is the high efficiency of energy savings that can be obtained. In charcoal production traditionally more than 60% of energy is lost during the production process. This can be illustrated in making charcoal from coconut shells. Conversion from raw materials to charcoal is only 15-25% in the process of traditional carbonization / pyrolysis. For example, we take a conversion of 25% (the best estimate), with a raw material of 10 tons of coconut shell, then 2.5 tons of charcoal are produced. Coconut shell with a heating value of around 4,500 kcal / kg, meaning that 10 tons of raw material is 45,000,000 kcal. While coconut shell charcoal with a heating value of around 8,000 kcal / kg, then 2.5 tons of charcoal will have a heating value of 20,000,000 kcal / kg. Based on these calculations more than 50% of energy is lost or is only wasted, ie 25,000,000 kcal. If the conversion to charcoal is lower or 20%, the energy loss is even greater, namely 29,000,000 kcal or more than 60%. Of course it is very inefficient and a lot of energy waste.

Whereas in the continuous pyrolysis process almost all energy can be utilized. Syngas and biooil are two types of by-products from pyrolysis that can be used as energy sources. Based on this, not only is conversion increasing, resulting in a reduction in raw materials which are also used by side products that can be used as energy sources. At present there are very few people who are thinking of utilizing the energy lost during the carbonization / pyrolysis process, this is because most people only think about how to increase the conversion to the charcoal. The loss of energy during the carbonization process is unknown or not realized by mostly charcoal producers in particular.

The use of 'lost energy' when the carbonization / pyrolysis process becomes another form of energy is certainly very good and adds value to its benefits. Electricity and heat are the two most needed forms of energy, so the conversion of 'lost energy' or pyrolysis / carbonization byproducts to become electric and heat energy is the best use scenario today. A number of regions or regions in the world still have low levels of electricity access. Africa, for example, on average has a low level of access to electricity, which is less than 30%, whereas in this region is the largest charcoal producer in the world which reaches 50% of global global production. By using continuous pyrolysis, this area, in addition to being the largest charcoal producer and even with a higher conversion, will also have access to electricity with the construction of a power plant fueled by the pyrolysis / carbonization by-products.

Charcoal is an energy product from biomass processing, especially wood. Wood charcoal has been known for a long time and is produced in a number of places. The process of producing wood charcoal is generally traditional, takes a long time and the quality is not uniform. According to FAO, global wood charcoal production in 2015 was recorded at more than 50 million tons and about half of it was produced in Africa. That means with the assumption that the conversion rate of 15% requires biomass, especially wood as raw material, as much as 333 million tons every year with 167 million tons coming from Africa. If the conversion rate to charcoal can be increased to 30% or two times, then the need for raw materials will decrease drastically or only half, namely 167 million tons globally and 83.5 million tons from Africa. What a very significant savings effort.

Every year Europe imports 1 million tons of charcoal, as well as Saudi Arabia and Middle Eastern countries import more than 1 million tons of charcoal. Saudi Arabia and the Middle East mainly use charcoal to roast lamb, a favorite food there. The use of charcoal in general is mostly the household sector with retail distribution. In addition charcoal is also used for metallurgy, agriculture (biochar) and activated charcoal (activated carbon) raw materials.

Activated Carbon Production From Palm Kernel Shell

Besides being able to be directly used as fuel, for charcoal production and torrified products, palm kernel shells can also be processed for higher added value which is activated carbon. One of the advantages of activated carbon from palm kernel shells is that the majority of micropore is more than 80%. This makes it suitable for recovering gold and silver from the solution. Another thing that makes it suitable for the application is because of the level of its hardness. Activated carbon from palm kernel shells will have characteristics similar to activated carbon from coconut shell. The form of granule is activated carbon which is commonly used for recovery of gold and silver. The granule shape is made by crushing both coconut shells and palm kernel shells to a certain size.

Rotating Kiln For Steam (Physical) Activation

Indonesian and Malaysian palm kernel shell production is huge, which is more than 15 million tons per year from palm oil mills waste. There are around 17 million hectares of palm oil plantations from both countries as palm oil sources and are the largest in the world today. The use of palm kernel shells can be optimized for the production of activated carbon. Activated carbon demand is predicted to increase by about 10% per year and the demand reaches nearly 4 million tons in 2021 valued at 8.12 billion USD (while data in 2015 recorded global production of 2.7 million tons of of activated carbon valued at USD 4.74 billion). Powdered activated carbon (PAC) has the largest market share followed by granular activated carbon (GAC) .The high demand for PAC is mainly driven by the needs in a number of industries such as chemicals, petrochemicals, food and beverages for decolorizarion and deodorization applications. Liquid phase application have the largest portion for usage of activated carbon. Asia Pacific region is the largest market location for activated carbon, and the location of Indonesia and Malaysia which are rich in palm kernel shells is also in the Asia Pacific region, meaning that producers and markets can be in one region, so they should also be the main players of this commodity .

As awareness of sustainability increasing, the production of activated carbon from renewable raw materials will be expanded. It should be noted that world activated carbon production is currently dominated by activated carbon from non-renewable raw materials which reach up to 80% and partly produced in western countries. Activated carbon production can be carried out by chemical or physical activation. Chemical activation is not so much done on an industrial scale because of the associated environmental pollution, although the yield is higher and the operating temperature used is lower. Physical activation, especially with the steam, is the type of activation that is suitable for palm kernel shells and mostly operated today. Rotary kilns are the most widely used equipment for steam or physical activation.

Before being activated, the palm kernel shell is made into charcoal. The charcoal production process is still largely traditional, which makes a lot of air pollution, small yields and large energy losses. Modernization of technology for charcoal production needs to be done to overcome the above. Pyrolysis or continuous carbonization is a technology for charcoal production which is the activated carbon raw material. The pyrolysis or continuous carbonization will also make the activated carbon production process very efficient. This is because one of the highest cost components for the activated carbon production process can be fulfilled from the side products of continuous pyrolysis namely syngas and biooil. For more details can be read here.

Continuous Pyrolysis for the Activated Carbon Production Part 2

Activated carbon production can be done in two ways, namely physical and chemical activation. Both physical and chemical activation require pyrolysis (carbonization) in the activated carbon production process. The difference about the sequence, in the use of the pyrolysis unit (carbonization) in the activation process is the physical activation of the pyrolysis unit (carbonization) for charcoal production which is then activated using steam or CO2, while the chemical activation of the pyrolysis unit (carbonization) is used for charcoal production from raw materials previously chemically activated like with H3PO4, ZnCl2, KOH. Other differences in physical activation using temperature for activation are higher, namely the range of 800-1000 C while the chemical activation uses a lower temperature, which is around 150-200 C only. Activated carbon products or yield that are produced chemically are more than those produced physically, which are around 3: 1.

The advantage of using a continuous pyrolysis unit for activated carbon production primarily increases the efficiency of the production process and the quality of the products. Efficiency is very important for a production activity. The efficiency of the production process is derived from the use of pyrolysis by-products that can be used to produce heat and even electricity. As an example of physical activation that uses a high operating temperature, excess syngas can be used to reach that temperature. Biooil produced can produce steam. Charcoal products produced from a continuous pyrolysis (carbonization) unit also do not need to be cooled and can be activated directly, so that their energy needs can be minimized. So that the activated carbon production should be an integration between the pyrolysis unit (carbonization) and its activation unit.

While in the chemical activation process, pyrolysis (carbonization) byproducts can also be used for the production of activated carbon. The activation process that uses a temperature that is quite low at 150-200 C can use excess heat from the pyrolysis process for its heat source. While excess syngas can be used to produce electricity for the production of activated carbon or sold to other parties such as other industries or PLN. Biooil can also be used for burner fuel or purified again for the production of vehicle fuel and so on. Continuous use of pyrolysis (carbonization) will also produce high quality, standard and stable product quality, this is because the operating conditions in the unit can be easily and accurately controlled, such as heating rate, residence time and temperature.

While in charcoal production (carbonization) traditionally operating in batches, in addition to a lot of energy loss also produces a lot of smoke which causes air pollution. The loss of energy during the traditional process of carbonization (pyrolysis) can even reach more than 60% meaning that more than half of the energy is only wasted, for more details can be read here. Of course this is very unfortunate, the activated carbon plant which should be able to operate very efficiently and economically, becomes wasteful and expensive. The effect of this is of course on the depletion of the profits obtained by the business. Within a short time it is expected that activated carbon factories will use continuous pyrolysis (carbonization) to increase efficiency, environmental and economic aspects.

Continuous Pyrolysis Unit for Activated Carbon Production

Production of activated carbon requires charcoal as raw material. Charcoal production will be more effective and efficient by continuous pyrolysis (carbonization). In addition to the high quality charcoal produced can also produce electricity and steam production for the activation process. Of course this makes high efficiency of the production process. Whereas in terms of environmental aspects, it is also very environmentally friendly because of smoke pollution during the process of pyrolysis (carbonisation) can be minimized below the threshold. Methane emissions that are very damaging to the ozone layer also did not occur.

The process of pyrolysis (carbonization) with a temperature of around 400 C with a product in the form of charcoal can immediately proceed with activation. Activation with 700-1000 C operating conditions can be done directly by raising the temperature. If the excess syngas is used for electricity production, then biooil from pyrolysis can be used to fuel in steam production. Excess electricity can also be sold to industries or to electricity companies. Whereas if all sources of energy are used for the production of activated charcoal (activated carbon), the consumption of heating oil can be minimized and even eliminated. Activated carbon production with all the energy can be supplied by itself is certainly very interesting and economical.

The problem with traditional charcoal production is the problem of smoke pollution and the amount of energy lost. Smoke pollution can be directly identified and can be easily felt, but the problem of energy loss is usually not noticed and generally do not know. Of course this is very unfortunate, let alone energy is one component of high costs in a production process. Is there really an energy loss? And how much energy is lost? Of course we need to look in detail at the carbonization process (pyrolysis) to answer these questions.

 Conversion from raw materials to charcoal is only 20-25% in the process of traditional carbonization / pyrolysis. For example, we take a conversion of 25%, with a raw material of 10 tons of coconut shell, 2.5 tons of charcoal are produced. Coconut shell with a heating value of around 4,500 kcal / kg, meaning that 10 tons of raw material is 45,000,000 kcal. While coconut shell charcoal with a heating value of around 8,000 kcal / kg, then 2.5 tons of charcoal will have a heating value of 20,000,000 kcal / kg. Based on these calculations more than 50% of energy is lost or is only wasted, ie 25,000,000 kcal. If the conversion to charcoal is lower or 20%, the energy loss is even greater, namely 29,000,000 kcal or more than 60%. Of course it is very inefficient and should be avoided. This can also happen for carbonization of various other raw materials for activated carbon, such as palm kernel shells, wood, and so on.

Continuous pyrolysis is the best solution for charcoal production and also the production of energy that can be used for the activated carbon production process itself. The activated carbon factories that have been established can upgrade the technology especially on the side of charcoal production and energy fulfillment. The more efficient of a production will be the more economical the business. While the pyrolysis or carbonization process is also still produced by-products namely biomass vinegar (pyroligneous acid / liquid smoke) which can be used as plant fertilizer, biopesticides to raw materials for chemicals, especially biophenol and wood adhesive.

Continuous Activated Carbon Production is More Efficient With Integration JF BioCarbon Continuous Carbonization and Rotating Kiln Activation Unit

Charcoal production as raw material of activated carbon with continuous slow pyrolysis (carbonization) technology very efficient in terms of the energy efficiency, product quality of charcoal is produced, the production process in an easy and environment friendly and many type of outputs is the produced by slow pyrolysis process beside the charcoal namely syngas, biooil  and biomass vinegar, which are all valued economically. Accurate process control as well as production capacity of medium-large scale highly profitable to process a large number of raw materials or that will make activated carbon plant in medium-large scale with high quality.

The size of activated carbon usually on granul or powder which is also very suitable with application of the technology. Charcoal production with JF BioCarbon technology for raw materials of activated carbon will be in the form of granul with capacity is around 20 tons to 70 tons per day which is processed by steam activating so that it would be activated carbon. With raw materials of charcoal is produced then activated carbon plant with capacity 6 - 25 tonnes per day can be made. Charcoal from coconut shell and palmkernel shell are the most common  used in the activated carbon production because its hardness. Iodine number is other parameter the quality of activated carbon besides its hardness. With steam activation, the iodine number that can be reached around 1000 while when combined with chemical activation then the iodine number that can be reached above 2500.

  By setting up the operational process condition such as temperature and residence time then charcoal with high fixed carbon can get and after the process conditions has been obtained for charcoal product with that specification that is desired then the hot charcoal can immediately feed into the  rotating kiln activation unit  without cooling beforehand, so that will save energy consumption significantly especially in the steam activation process. Syngas from pyrolysis will be used in the activation process to produce steam and keep the temperature of activation. Excess syngas after being used in process activation, then can be used to generate electricity or other energy source.

Biomass Ash Behaviour in Pyrolysis Process

In most pyrolysis systems, the operating temperatures are fairly modest. It is commonly found at laboratory and rig scale that the inherent mineral material in biomass tends to be retained within char, and is not released into gas or vapour phase in sufficient quantities to cause ash deposition or other operational problems within the reactor or in the gas collection equipment.

Very little work has been carried out on the distribution and stability of heavy metals in biochar. High mineral-ash biochars (especially chicken manure biochar and activated carbon) are known to adsorb heavy metals.

Very little has been published on the distribution of mineral ash within different type of biochar. Of the inorganic elements that comprise mineral ash, most are believed to occur as discrete phases separate from the carbonaceous matrix. In some biochars, however, K and Ca are distributed throughout the matrix where they may form phenoxides (K, Ca) or simply be intercalated between grapheme sheets (K).

Minerals found in biochars include sylvite (KCl), quartz (SiO2), amorphous silica, calcite (CaCO3), hydroxyapatite (Ca10(PO4)6(OH)2), and other minor phases such as Ca phosphates, anhydrite (CaSO4), various nitrates, and oxides and hydroxides of Ca, Mg, alumunium (Al), titanium (Ti), Mn, zinc (Zn) or Fe. Amorphous silica is of particular interest as it typically is in the form of phytoliths that contain and protect plant C from degradation. Crystalline silica is also of interest because it has been found in some biochars where it poses a very high level respiratory risk. Microprobe analysis of these biochars indicates that there is a large variation of mineral content even within each particle.