You can make charcoal from wood, but coconut charcoal is widely popular because it is made from coconut shells which are cheaper, and can produce higher heat than charcoal made from regular wood. It is natural, doesn’t require cutting down trees, and can be used as a substitute against kerosene, fuelwood and others. Not only that, coconut charcoal making can result in coconut charcoal that can be used for a wide variety of activities, from grilling, shisha, to soap and toothpaste.
Why Coconut Charcoal?
In Indonesia, coconut grows all year long. You can see a lot of coconut shells being sold in the market, in the street, and even being discarded. A lot of people preferred coconut because of its abundance, its cheap price, and you can get them very easily. Coconut charcoal making can produce different kinds of products, depending on what they are used for.
Coconut charcoal usually used for barbeque, it is widely used as the replacement to normal coal not only because it’s cheaper, but also because of the smell is better than regular wood coal. It is also used for shisha or hookah smoking. You can even find bathroom products from coconut charcoal making. Because of its moisturizer qualities, coconut charcoal can be used to make soap that will be good for your skin. Not only that, you can whiten your teeth by using toothpaste made from coconut charcoal.
How to Make Coconut Charcoal?
Coconut charcoal is usually used by large industries, so coconut charcoal making also needs industrial equipment. The first step is carbonizing the coconut shells into different sizes using the carbonizing machine. This step usually takes 3-5 days with the temperature of 400-600 degrees Celsius. After that, the charcoal needs to be cooled with water to decrease its temperature to 40 degrees Celsius, this usually takes 2-3 days.
The next step in coconut charcoal making is turning them into briquettes. Because charcoal powder has no viscosity, it needs a binder to form it into briquettes. With a binder which is usually corn or cassava starch, the briquettes will be more solid and smooth. Coconut charcoal can also be made into the shape of a pillow, cylinder, or hexagon.
Drying the briquettes is the next thing to do in coconut charcoal making. To do this, two types of drying can be used, natural drying or with a charcoal dryer. If you use natural drying, it is best to put the charcoal on a tray or plastic to avoid contamination with dirt, and in case it rains, it is recommended to put them on a shelf to avoid damage.
Those are the steps in coconut charcoal making. Instead of wood, coconut charcoal has a lot of advantages. No trees have to be cut down, its renewable, low ash residue, can be burned for 3 hours hotter and longer than regular wood coal, cheap and abundant, doesn’t smell bad, and the ashes can be used as fertilizer for plants. There’s no reason not to choose it.
Those are the two most important things to consider before choosing your coconut shells coal cubes company. So, make sure you choose the right one. If you interest to know more information about coconut charcoal, you can visit our website. You can also click here to connect directly with us.