CHARCOAL BRIQUETTES: A

TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER
 There are two different methods of charcoal
making.
• 1. Direct method - heat and form an incomplete combustion of the
organic matter that results in the formation of charcoal.

• 2. Indirect method -an external heat source is used to “burn” organic

matter kept in a closed but vented airless chamber. The indirect
method results in production of high quality charcoal with less smoke
and pollutants.
,
.

Charcoal Briquettes from Agricultural

Residues

• The process of making charcoal briquettes from agricultural

waste is not new. Many institutions have experimented on
different agricultural residues to find out which raw materials are
possible for charcoal making. They encourage the use of dry
organic material (also called biomass) that is unsuitable for
animal or human consumption, or for composting such as sugar
cane bagasse, palm leaves or bamboo, coconut shells and
husks, straw and reeds corn cobs and other farm crop wastes
How to Make Charcoal Briquettes
 Requirements

1. Locally available biomass (eg casuarina leaf litter, sugarcane trash,

rice husk, coir pith, groundnut shells, etc)

2. Carbonizing chamber (furnace )

3. Binder (starch or cassava flour)

4. Mini Briquetting machine (10kg/hr)

 Step/ process of charcoal making

1. Collection of biomass
• Collect the locally available biomass, sort them, chop the large-size
raw materials into smaller pieces and dry at sunlight.
2. Carbonization
Carbonizing the biomass
• The biomass is tightly packed into the inner drum and fired for
45minutes to 1hr (Depending upon the biomass) using biomass.
• After firing, the carbonized biomass in the inner drum has to
collected and weighed. In this method 30 % of carbonized char can be
obtained.
3. Preparation of binder
The binder material is used for strengthening the briquettes. For every 100 kg of
total weight of carbonized charcoal powder, prepare a binder mixture by adding 5
to 6 kg of starch or cassava flour to 60 – 100 litres of water (based on the weight of
the raw materials) -(For example: 80 liters of water to be mixed with 5 kg of starch
powder then boiled till stickiness is formed and added to the 100kgs of charcoal
dust. )
4. Mixing

Mix such that every particle of carbonised charcoal material is coated

with binder. It will enhance charcoal adhesion and produce identical
briquettes.
5. Briquetting
• The charcoal mixture is made into briquettes either manually or using
machines. Pour the mixture directly into the briquetting mould /
machine to form uniform-sized briquettes.
6. Drying and Packaging

• Collect the briquettes in a tray, dry them under the sunlight, pack
them in plastic bags and seal
 Advantages of the technology
1. Smokeless: The charcoal briquettes burn without any smoke during ignition and burning.

2. Low Ash content: Minimum residual ash is formed (less than 5% of the original weight of the
charcoal).

3. Higher Fixed Carbon & calorific value: Normally the concentration of fixed carbon will be about
82%. The calorific value of charcoal briquettes is 7500 Kcal/KG.

4. Odourless: The biomass charcoal briquette contains minimum evaporative substances, thus
eliminating the possibility of odour.

5. Longer burning hours: Two times longer burning hours compared to hardwood charcoal.

6. Sparkless: These charcoal briquettes will not produce sparks as compared to hardwood charcoal.
7. Less crack & better strength: Less crack & better strength make the charcoal burn for a long time.