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Coconut charcoal is the blackish residue consisting of impure carbon obtained by removing water and other volatile constituents from coconut (vegetation) substance. It is usually produced by heating or processing the coconut husk or shell in the absence of oxygen (see char). The soft, brittle, lightweight, black, porous material resembles coal and is 85% to 98% carbon with the remainder consisting of volatile chemicals and ash.

History

Coconut charcoal is a friendly fire fuel because it produces a hot, long-lasting, virtually smokeless fire. Coconut charcoal briquettes are used for outdoor / barbecue cooking in the United States. According to the barbecue Industry Association, Americans bought 883,748 tonnes (869,791 long tons; 974,165 short tons) of charcoal briquettes in 1997.

Charcoal is known to have been manufactured for at least 5,300 years. Among the effects of a traveler who perished in the Tyrolean Alps in that time period, scientists discovered bits of charred wood wrapped in maple leaves. 6,000 years ago, charcoal was the fuel for smelting copper. After the invention of the blast furnace on 1400 A.D., charcoal was used in Europe for iron smelting. In the 18th century, forest depletion led to the use of coke (a coal-based form of charcoal) as an alternative fuel. In the western United States in 1800s it was used for extracting silver from ore, for railroad fueling, and for residential and commercial heating. Orin Stafford, in 1900 who then helped Henry Ford establish his briquette business discovered the retort method (passing wood through a series of hearths or ovens; a continuous process wherein wood constantly enters one end of a furnace and charred material leaves the other; in contrast, the traditional kiln process burns wood in discrete batches; virtually no visible smoke is emitted from a retort, because the constant level of output can effectively be treated with emission control devices such as afterburners).

Raw materials and manufacturing process

Coconut charcoal briquettes are made of 2 primary ingredients (comprising about 90% of the final product) and several minor ones. One of the primary ingredients, known as char, is basically the traditional charcoal, as described above made from coconut husk and shells. The other primary ingredient, used to produce a high-temperature, long-lasting fire, is coal. Various types of coal may be used, ranging from sub-bituminous lignite to anthracite. Minor ingredients include a binding agent (typically starch made from corn, milo, or wheat), an accelerant (such as nitrate), and an ash-whitening agent (such as lime) to let the backyard barbecuer know when the briquettes are ready to cook over. The first step in the manufacturing process is to char the wood. Some manufacturers use the kiln (batch) method, while others use the retort (continuous) method. A typical retort can produce approximately 5,500 pounds (2.5 t; 2.8 short tons) of char per hour. Next is carbonizing the coal, briquetting, bagging and dealing with byproducts/waste.

Types and uses

Commercial coconut charcoal is found in either lump, briquette or extruded forms:

• Lump coconut charcoal is made directly from coconut husks and shells material and usually produces far less ash than briquettes.

• Briquettes are made by compressing charcoal, typically made from coconut husks and shells, with a binder and other additives. The binder is usually starch. Some briquettes may also include brown coal (heat source), mineral carbon (heat source), borax, sodium nitrate (ignition aid), limestone (ash-whitening agent), raw sawdust (ignition aid) and other additives like paraffin or petroleum solvents to aid in ignition.

• Extruded coconut charcoal is made by extruding coconut husks and shells into logs without the use of a binder. The heat and pressure of the extruding process hold the charcoal together. If the extrusion is made from raw wood material, the extruded logs are then subsequently carbonized.

The characteristics of charcoal products (lump, briquette or extruded forms) vary widely from product to product. Thus it is a common misconception to stereotype any kind of charcoal, saying which burns hotter, etc. Charcoal is sometimes used to power commercial road vehicles, usually buses - in countries where oil is scarce or completely unavailable. In the years immediately after the second world war, charcoal buses were in regular use in Japan and are still used today in North Korea.

Coconut charcoal briquettes

These briquettes are compressed and dried brown coal extruded into hard blocks. This is a common technique for low rank coals. They are typically dried to 12-18% moisture, and are primarily used in household and industry. In Ireland, peat briquettes are a common type of solid fuel after coal. Although often used as the sole fuel for a fire, they are also used to begin a coal fire quickly and easily. A fire burning peat briquettes is, similarly to a turf fire, slow burning. Peat briquettes can be used as an acceptable substitute for charcoal in barbecues for this reason. Charcoal briquettes are widely used for outdoor grilling and barbeques in backyards and on camping trips. Charcoal cannot be burned indoors without an adequate ventilation system, because poisonous carbon monoxide (CO) is a combustion product.

Coconut Shell Charcoal is the raw material for the manufacture of activated carbon. The shell charcoal is manufactured by burning shells of fully matured nuts with limited air supply enough for carbonisation. The output of charcoal in the traditional pith method is just below 30 % of the weight of the original shells. Thus, to produce one ton, 30,000 coconut whole shells are needed. To obtain good quality charcoal, fully dried, clean, mature shells should be used. Coconut charcoal is then sieved to the different sizes. Coconut charcoal briquettes is a compact block charcoal made from coconut shell or granular coconut shell charcoal that is crushed charcoal and molded using binder. As fuel, it is hotter and last longer than ordinary charcoal. It is suitable for household use both indoor and outdoor. Also, it can be used in food industries, fro barbecue, stove fuel, metallurgy, etc. It is natural made from renewable source, virtually smokeless, produces a small quantity of ash, burns 1.5 times longer than typical hardwood charcoal — more or less 3.5 hours at temperature up to 730 °F (388 °C).

Philippine extruded coconut charcoal

Extruded coconut from Philippines is the ultimate charcoal for smoking, baking and broiling all kinds of food for it has mild distinctive flavor and smell the same as the "Natural" coconut. The briquettes are 100% pure natural coconut with the only difference that they are compressed into extruded briquettes, and have no fillers or additives. This charcoal is easy to light, has the highest BTU or heat rating of any charcoal, burns longer, cleaner, and has less ashes than any charcoal. Coconut lump charcoal is composed of natural coconut shells, these lumps have no additives or binders, just beautifully carbonized coconut shells. Some of the most important characteristics are it's fast starting, extreme heat, flameless, smokeless, spark-less, mild, natural flavor, and ash less. It can be traced from the early 60's when Richard Johnson sold Japanese "smokeless" charcoal along with his Japanese Kamados. The Japanese used this charcoal for indoor cooking and heating.

Philippine premium coconut charcoal

Unlike popular charcoal briquettes and propane gas, it is unique since it does not contain mineral coal, wood scraps of dubious origins, limestone or other potentially carcinogenic hydrocarbons. Being the first quick-light charcoal of its kind in the world, Philippine-made natural premium coconut charcoal has exotic design and it is quick-light that achieves full ignition in just seconds without the use of petroleum, kerosene, or paraffin hydrocarbons. Hence, it is quick and easy to use, for it's being ready to cook time is at least 73% less than that of regular briquetets. It is made from natural coconut husks and shells, the very same organic material used in the manufacture of air filters and water purifiers. It is environmentally-friendly and biodegradable, and comes from an abundant renewable resource that doesn’t involve deforestation. It is engineered for clean and efficient combustion, uniform heat distribution and sustained optimal cooking temperature unmatched by regular briquets. Economical to use, a single premium charcoal brick is equal or better in cooking performance to about one pound of briquettes. Unlike messy and bulky charcoal bags and highly flammable propane tanks, it comes neatly packed and sealed in biodegradable food-grade shrink-wrap, so it is relatively safe for storage, takes up less shelf space, easier to stack and convenient to transport. With its intrinsically high calorific value and clean-burning characteristics, it can also be modified into a pure heat source for residential, commercial or industrial applications. 4 pieces of charcoal bricks are all it takes to cook about 4 to 6 pounds of barbecue as it continuously burns for up to 1½ hours. Complete ignition of the charcoal bricks is achieved in under 2 minutes and is ready for cooking in under 4 minutes.

Technically referred to as extruded coconut charcoal, it’s target consumers will be charcoal briquette users and those involved in outdoor activities such as camping, hunting, fishing and hiking. For many decades, charcoal grillers have had only two fuel options: briquettes or lump (wood charcoal). Charcoal briquettes command about 90% of the charcoal market. Economical to use, safe to store and engineered for clean, efficient combustion and uniform heat distribution, it can be positioned as a quick, convenient and an overall better alternative to popular charcoal briquettes. Its biodegradable natural coconut composition, environmentally-friendly attributes and non-carcinogenic nature also ties in well with consumers’ growing awareness about health, safety and environmental concerns unlike many other barbecue charcoal products such as hardwood charcoa. This material can be formed into virtually any shape to serve any purpose from charcoal logs to briquettes for cooking. Coconut charcoal burns hot and clean, imparts a mild flavor, and produces a mild, sweet, but unique smoke. Premium coconut charcoal is huge in Asia where it is is produced and is making its way into Europe and North America. Not a single tree or branch is cut down to produce it as it is made out of coconut shells. Compared with other similar products used for a charcoal barbecue, briquettes, made of carbonised coconut shells burn hotter, last longer and burn evenly without smoke, odour or formation of clinker or slag. This product contains very low ash, about 75% less than any other kind of fuel briquettes. These coconut shell briquettes are very safe to use as no toxic gas is emitted, nor does it have any sulphur content. Grilling food with this type of charcoal barbecue is known to eliminate fat and associated cholesterol, thus it contributes to a healthier way of enjoying barbecued food.

Sri Lanka coconut shell charcoal

Sri Lanka's top activated carbon maker, Haycarb makes coconut shell charcoal through a carbonisation process without using oxygen called 'pyrolysis' which releases methane rich gases (which are used, to run a steam turbine that produces electricity - 'charcoal reactor' that burns coconut shells and captures the emission gases). Sri Lanka produce 45,000 tonnes (44,000 long tons; 50,000 short tons) coconut shell charcoal a year in about 300 open pits in the North Western province. Incorporated in 1973, it is the world’s largest coconut shell based activated carbon exporter and marketer, with an installed capacity of more than 22,000 tonnes (22,000 long tons; 24,000 short tons) a year, accounting for 17 % of global production.

Powdered coconut charcoal (PCC)

Powdered coconut charcoal is used to sequester organic contaminants and reduce toxicity in sediments as part of a series of toxicity identification and evaluation (TIE) methods. It was effective in reducing the toxicity of endosulfan-spiked sediments by 100% and also was effective in removing almost 100% of the toxicity from two field sediments contaminated with polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). Powdered coconut charcoal did not change the toxicity of ammonia or metal-spiked sediments; however, there was some quantitative reduction in the concentrations of free metals (element specific) in metal-spiked sediments. It is thus an effective, relatively specific method to sequester and remove toxicity from sediments contaminated with organic contaminants. Powdered charcoal is often used to "tone" or cover large sections of a drawing surface. Drawing over the toned areas will darken it further, but the artist can also lighten (or completely erase) within the toned area to create lighter tones.

References

Notes

1. madehow.com, Charcoal Briquette
2. How charcoal briquettes are made.
3. Tokyo views of the city; essay contains a small section on Charcoal buses in post-war Japan
4. celebes.ph, coconut charcoal briquettes
5. kamado.com, Kamado Extruded Coconut Charcoal
6. landabusinessonline, Sri Lanka activated carbon maker cleans up industry
7. cababstractplus, Use of powdered coconut charcoal

Bibliography

• Emrich, Walter. Handbook of Charcoal Making: The Traditional and Industrial Methods. Hingham, MA: Kiuwer Academic Publishers, 1985.
• Moscowitz, C. M. Source Assessment: Charcoal Manufacturing: State of the Art. Cincinnati, Ohio: Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Research and Development, Industrial Environmental Research Laboratory, 1978.
• Scharabok, Ken. "Amaze Your Friends and Neighbors: Make Your Own Charcoal!" Countryside & Small Stock Journal (May 1997): 27-28.
• Zeier, Charles D. "Historic Charcoal Production Near Eureka, Nevada: An Archaeological Perspective." Historical Archaeology 21(1987): 81-101.

External links

• Barbecue Charcoal - The available choices for the backyard barbecue
• The Lump Charcoal Database - Information about lump charcoal.
• Coconut Charcoal - Facts
• Recycling Coconut Shells
• Exotic Petroleum-Free Instant Light Natural Coconut Brick Charcoal to Fire up America ’s Grills
• Charcoal of the future
• Inquirer.net, Poverty reduction main business of BiD Challenge

• Art materials
• Fuels
• Carbon forms
• Pyrotechnic fuels
• Energy sources