Three in One with Carbonization Furnace Innovation

At present we still encounter a lot of inefficient charcoal production (carbonization). Besides producing a lot of pollution there is also a lot of heat or energy lost, which should be used for others, for example drying copra or cooking coconut water for the production of nata de coco and so on. If the carbonization process can be made more efficiently then it can be integrated with the production of white copra and nata de coco. The production of white copra and nata de coco has also become very economical because energy or heat needs can be supplied from the charcoal process or carbonization. Fuel or energy sources can be minimized or even eliminated altogether.

The heat energy from the charcoal process is very large, so efforts to use it are important to increase production efficiency. The carbonization furnace which is designed for charcoal production while producing heat for copra drying with indirect heating and boiling coconut water for nata de coco production is a solution to increase this efficiency. The quality of the charcoal products produced is also higher and stable because of the better control of the production process. With a minimum raw material capacity of 3 tons/day of the coconut shell carbonization furnace can be operated. This is equivalent to processing 6.5 tons of coconut meat/day or white copra production around 3.25 tons/day and nata de coco 5 tons/day. The scheme of carbonization furnace design is as below.

 

The need for coconut shell charcoal is increasing over time as are other coconut products. Indonesia's export of coconut shell charcoal is about 250 thousand tons / year. White copra is also needed for the production of coconut oil whose quality is better than black copra. The quality of oil from white copra is cleaner and clearer so that it can be consumed directly, while black-black copra is commonly called crude coconut oil. The world's white copra exports were 137 thousand tons in 2013 (APCC-Coconut Statistical Yearbook, 2013) with a total value of more than 2 trillion rupiah. The potential of nata de coco is also no less great in line with the growth of food and beverages, which averages 8% per year and it is estimated that the national potential of nata de coco reaches 1.6 trillion / year. The coconut shell charcoal can also be processed further into briquettes or activated carbon. For the export of briquette charcoal and activated carbon (activated carbon), Indonesia is classified as small, namely 20 thousand tons / year and 25 thousand tons / year. For detailed information on coconut shell carbonization furnace, please email at cakbentra@gmail.com

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 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.