See Modern Charcoal Production Today

More specifically than the use of charcoal in general, the agricultural world, especially organic farming has become one of the current users of charcoal. Charcoal in the agricultural world or commonly known as biochar is widely used because it can withstand nutrients or fertilizers from leaching so that it is widely used for the manufacture of slow release fertilizer, then the pores in the char also become the home of microbes that break down various organic materials become fertilizer to the plant, the pores also improve the physical structure of the soil. In addition, biochar can also keep the soil moisture because water is also easily absorbed in the structure of the pores. Biochar also increases soil pH, is also able to absorb carbon dioxide (CO2) from the atmosphere (carbon negative scenario), and can last up to tens or even hundreds of years in the soil. These are the things that encourage the use of biochar in the agricultural world, which in short can increase agricultural productivity or help improve the world food products.

The role of biochar in some ways can indeed be substituted with other materials, for example for the ability to retain water, cocopeat is better than biochar, for the surface area with the number of pores the activated charcoal is much larger than the biochar, and to raise the pH for the soils acid then dolomite lime better. In an application in the field of planting media engineering to obtain the best agricultural media is very likely use a number of materials mentioned above. Optimal results can be obtained based on soil characteristics and plant species. Economic factors are also an important consideration factor after the above technical aspects.

Modern biochar production currently uses thermochemical processes continuously. There are two thermochemical technologies for biochar production namely pyrolysis and gasification. Pyrolysis technology is more widely used because it produces more biochar and better quality. Why with pyrolysis can get 2 things? This is because basically (slow) pyrolysis is a technology used for the production of charcoal or maximizes its solid product, so the process control is also designed for that purpose. While the gasification is designed to maximize its gas product, so the char is only positioned as a by-product. The operating temperature of gasification is also higher (800 C) than pyrolysis (450 C) so that the char is also mixed with ash.

More specifically the indirect heating pyrolysis technology is more widely used for biochar production today. With this technology the pyrolysis process control is easier and the charcoal quality is also better. Application of indirect heating pyrolysis technology for continuous process generally use rotating drum and heated auger type. Biochar production capacity is generally in the range of 2-4 tons / hour. The byproducts of the pyrolysis process are also of high economic value such as bio-oil for fuel, pyroligneous acid (liquid smoke) for fertilizer and biopesticide, as well as syngas for fuel and more specifically for electricity production.

Bamboo As Biomaterial

The image of some people about bamboo is still negative, which is imagined as a bad bamboo hut and identical with the poor in the countryside. Whereas bamboo is a plant that has many uses and its use is also not inferior to wood. Construction of Barajas airport ceilings in Madrid, Spain for example using bamboo and interior of Toyota Lexus cars, and bamboo sport bikes. The use of bamboo for activated charcoal making is also widely done. Activated carbon is charcoal which is activated that has a large surface area, so it is commonly used for adsorbing filters of various chemical compounds. Over time the utilization of bamboo is also increasingly widespread, and will be very long when described one by one about the products that can be produced from bamboo. The problem that bamboo plantations in Indonesia in particular is also decreasing so it needs to be encouraged including its utilization, especially in the era of bioeconomy that is in sight.

Unlike the energy plantation that uses leguminoceae and can be harvested every year from its coppice (SRC: short rotation coppice), bamboo plantations can be harvested when at least 3 years old and can be harvested for decades. Energy plantation are capable of generating high productivity from their timber making it economical for wood pellet production, while bamboo is uneconomical for pellet production because it is much advantageous for many other needs. Waste or residue of bamboo processing that can be used to make pellets. Bamboo is more suitable for biomaterial sources that are also very needed in the era of bioeconomy today.

When bamboo is preserved with a certain treatment the durability is long so it can be aged up to tens of years, one of them because it is resistant to termites. Exotic and natural nuanced buildings are also made of bamboo. When the need for housing is higher especially in big cities, then bamboo can also be the solution. With the bamboo composite technology becomes strong, hard and durable even up to tens of years making it suitable for the manufacture of these houses. Do not imagine bamboo house with such composite technology as rustic bamboo huts in the countryside because almost all types of houses and models can also be made with the bamboo composite. In addition, the manufacture of houses with bamboo composite is fast and also environmentally friendly. 

Activated Carbon For Any Industries!

Activated carbon or activated charcoal is a material that is widely used in various industries, as auxiliary processing. Food, beverage, energy, mining and pharmaceutical industries use this activated carbon. The need for activated carbon also continues to increase so that production also needs to be expanded. Indonesia has great potential as a world class activated carbon producer considering the abundance of potential raw materials available.

Currently, large activated carbon producers are located outside Indonesia such as Europe and America. Yet neither Europe nor America have abundant source of raw materials or most imports including from Indonesia. The most favorite activated carbon feedstock today is coconut shell and once again Indonesia is the country with the largest coconut plantation in the world, which is about 3.7 million hectares. Palm kernel shells can also be the raw material of further choices. With a palm oil plantation area of approximately 12 million hectares, palm kernel shells produced more than 10 million tons / year.

The raw material of activated carbon is charcoal. The charcoal is then activated to become activated carbon. The process of making charcoal is by carbonization or pyrolysis. Coconut shell as an example of raw material of charcoal, then after carbonization the coconut shell convert into coconut shell charcoal, which then this charcoal become the raw material of activated charcoal. So basically the process of activated charcoal production is through 2 stages of the process namely pyrolysis (carbonization) and activation. The process of producing the charcoal or the carbonization process (pyrolysis) is the same as the biomass carbonization process in general, for more detail can be read here. Currently in large capacity the production of charcoal is carried out continuously with indirect-heating. Rotating kilns and heated auger pyrolyser are commonly used equipment for continuous production of charcoal. Continuous integration of charcoal production and activation process can be read here.

While the activation phase can be done in two ways namely the activation of physics and chemistry. The choice of activation depends on the target surface area, pore distribution and economy. Steam activation is the most widely used physics activation, whereas chemical activation is very diverse. The more surface area of activated carbon the more expensive the price is also proportional to the cost of production. Activation equipment commonly used there are 2 kinds namely, rotating kilns and fluidized bed. Of these 2 types of rotating kiln equipment is more widely used than the fluidized bed. The price of rotating kiln equipment is cheaper because the construction and operation are easier than the fluidized bed system. Fluidized bed systems are typically used for higher quality activated carbon production due to better distribution and pore engineering due to fluidization.

Standard and quality of activated carbon is determined primarily by surface area, pore distribution, size and hardness. The iodine number parameter is commonly used for the quality of activated carbon. The higher the iodine number the better the activated carbon quality. The iodine number is a number indicating how much adsorbent or activated carbon can adsorb iod. The greater the iodine value, the greater the adsorption power of the adsorbent or the activated charcoal. Conversely, the higher water content and ash content contained in the activated carbon will cause many pores to be covered by the impurities so that the surface area will be smaller. Where the surface area is closely related to the activated carbon adsorption capacity.All biomass basically can be used as an activated carbon raw material because it has a carbon content. Specific application of the activated charbon that determines the choice of raw material and its activation options.