Indonesia and the Seduction of Coconut Island

Indonesia is famous for its seductive land of coconut islands. This is because the extent of coconut plantations in Indonesia reaches around 3.7 million hectares, most of which are smallholder plantations. The extent of these coconut plantations places Indonesia as the owner of the largest coconut plantations in the world, and the Philippines is in second place. Coconut trees mainly grow along the coast, and indeed Indonesia also has the longest coastline in the world. Even though Indonesia's coconut plantation area is number 1 in the world, its productivity is still lower compared to the Philippines, so the Philippines is also the number 1 coconut producer in the world. The coconut industry in the Philippines is also more advanced than Indonesia. Indonesia, on the other hand, prioritizes palm oil over coconut. The area of Indonesia's palm oil plantations is currently around 15 million hectares or more than 4 times the area of its coconut plantations.

Especially for VCO (Virgin Coconut Oil) products for the export market, apart from requiring better specifications or quality, they are also generally required to be accompanied by organic certification. Organic certification is something that is not easy, especially for small businesses. Information from APCC (Asia Pacific Coconut Community) states that the Philippines is currently the largest producer of VCO, even though the area of coconut plantations is still below Indonesia, with export volume continuing to increase. It was recorded that the Philippines' VCO exports in 2006 were 461 tons, then nine years later, namely in 2015, it increased to 36,313 tons. The coconut industry in the Philippines is also more developed than in Indonesia, this can be seen from the large number of export commodities made from coconut products. The Philippines exports 30 kinds of coconut products while Indonesia only exports 14 kinds of products.

Coconut is like a sleeping tiger. As a tropical country with the longest coastline in the world, the "sleeping tiger" needs to be awakened. This huge potential must be awakened, not weakened, so that coconut-based industrialization must be boosted especially as the productivity of Indonesian coconut plantations continues to decline, plus the demographic bonus so that the potential of natural resources must be optimized, and the vision of a golden Indonesia 2045. Don't let the demographic bonus become a demographic disaster because it is not properly managed and directed. Optimizing natural resources with a sustainable environmental perspective is a future economic solution that must be a common concern.

Carbonization Furnace Innovations To Improve Coconut Processing Efficiency

Inefficient production processes will encourage waste, resulting in high production costs. Energy is an important factor for a lot of industries, especially in the integrated coconut processing industry. Carbonization or the coconut shell charcoal process is generally inefficient besides it also produces a lot of smoke pollution in the charring process, for more details, please read here. This much wasted energy should be used for various coconut processing, such as making white copra, dessicated coconut (DC), nata de coco, and drying cocofiber or cocopeat. Furthermore, the smoke that comes out of the carbonization process can also be condensed so as to produce liquid smoke product. With the above configuration, the carbonization furnace can be used optimally as well as waste or smoke pollution can also be minimized as little as possible. A simple carbonization furnace scheme is as follows:

The input of the carbonization furnace is mainly coconut shell, but coir/fiber, bunch, and frond can also be used. A heat exchanger is installed to extract or utilize heat from the carbonization process. The air from the environment after passing through the heat exchanger will become hot. The hot air produced can then be used as needed as above. In the production of white copra where only clean hot air is needed, not from smoke or flue gas can take advantage of this hot air, as well as in the production of dessicated coconut (DC). Coconut water, which is still disposed of so much that it pollutes the environment, should also be processed into nata de coco or vinegar. The process of boiling coconut water for the two products above can also take advantage of the heat from the carbonization furnace. With energy costs that can be cut or minimized in this way, coconut processed products become more competitive and provide additional benefits for the producers.

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 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 6: Integration of Dessicated Coconut Production, Packaged Coconut Water, and Shell Charcoal

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.

Dessicated coconut is not very popular in Indonesia. This product is used in the food industry for a mixture of cakes and chocolate so that it gives the flavor of coconut and much later became a favorite food in Europe. This product was originally discovered in Sri Lanka from Henry Vavasseur's drying experiment of grated coconut in 1888. There are 3 countries that are currently producing dessicated coconut, namely the Philippines, Sri Lanka and Indonesia. The need for this dessicated coconut product also continues to increase, namely recorded export of dessicated coconut in 1990 amounting to 151 thousand tons and in 2008 it increased to 248 thousand tons. In Indonesia alone, it is estimated that there are around 20 dessicated coconut (DC) factories.

DC is produced by drying grated coconut until the water content reaches a maximum of 3%. A dryer commonly used for DC production is a fluidized bed dryer. This dryer has advantages including high sensitivity for its operations, so it is commonly used for food and pharmaceutical products. Rotary dryer is a type of dryer that is also popular in the industry, especially in biomass processing such as wood pellets and briquettes, for more details, please read here. Rotary dryer types are more suitable for materials that are not too sensitive to heat, are not easily broken when dropped and heavier materials. That is why rotary dryers are more suitable for materials such as minerals, fertilizers and so on. Rotary dryer can be said to be heavy duty processing load and requires a wider space, while fluidized bed dryer for lighter-duty materials and requires less space.

For drying the grated coconut, heat energy is needed and for the operation of the plant's equipment such as shredding, conveyors, etc. electricity is needed. Both of these energies can be fulfilled by using a continuous pyrolysis unit. Coconut shell is used as a raw material for continuous pyrolysis, so that the output is in the form of charcoal, syngas and biooil. The charcoal can be sold for immediate use, made briquettes or activated carbon. For electricity production, syngas is used for fuel the gas engine (internal combustion engines) which convert heat energy into mechanical energy then into electrical energy. And biooil can be a source of heat both for boiling or sterilizing coconut meat as well as for a heat source for drying grated coconut with the heating media not in direct contact (indirect heating) with the grated coconut.

With the above pattern, the integrated coconut industry is energy independent or does not require energy supply from outside. This condition is very attractive especially for operations in remote locations. This energy independent industry practice is common in the palm oil industry. Palm oil mills usually burn shells and fiber for the production of electricity and steam. Why besides electricity, does the palm oil mill also produce steam? For more details, you can read here.

At present a number of palm oil mills have even used efficient boilers so that it is sufficient with fiber only and the shell can be sold or exported abroad. Though there is a better or more efficient way to produce electricity and steam, which is also by continuous pyrolysis, for more details read here. The shell, which is a biomass fuel, has properties almost similar to wood pellets at a cheaper price and is still abundantly available. Japan and Korea are the two countries in Asia that are most striking in the use of biomass energy related to climate change mitigation and global warming.

Coconut shell charcoal is a sought-after product, so the price is also increasing every year in accordance with market laws, namely supply-demand. The production of coconut shell charcoal will provide an attractive additional income compared to just being burned to ash and making a zero waste integrated coconut industry.

The DC industry is usually large enough in scale or production capacity to produce quite a lot of coconut water. Coconut water can be processed into bottled coconut water, which also requires electricity and heat in the production process. Electricity and heat production can use coconut fiber as fuel. Burning coconut fiber to heat the boiler and produce electricity, similar to the palm oil mill. Steam is produced to heat or sterilize the coconut water. The demand for bottled coconut water increased rapidly, from 484 thousand liters in 2009 to 71.7 million liters in 2015, or 141 times.