How to Make Briquettes from Coconut Shell in Step by Step
Coconut charcoal briquettes gained attention as a biofuel alternative. Because the briquettes’ main material is 100% waste and environmentally friendly. That is why people start to switch to this kind of briquettes instead. For those of you who would love to know how to make briquettes from coconut shell, you are coming to the right place.
But what about coconut shells and not any other materials? For sure, wood charcoal briquettes are also biofuel and far from fossil fuel. But, in making wood charcoal briquettes, you have to cut trees in the process. Meanwhile, in coconut charcoal briquettes, you only use the shells. The shells are waste and there is no tree to cut.
Why Should It be Briquettes?
Actually, for biofuel from the coconut shell, you can get this purpose by using the shells right away. But in doing so, the fire is unstable and if you don’t clean the shell properly from any coconut hair, it easily causes big flames.
Further, there is also another option by using coconut charcoal. This stage is when the coconut shells passed the carbonized process by burning them in flame and making it turn into charcoal. But because of its natural form, coconut charcoal is easy to break. Therefore, you will need almost twice as much charcoal as you would be if using the briquettes.
Also, the briquettes form is more compact and it is processed to make every particle catch fire in the same amount. Therefore, you will get a much longer burning time than if you’re using charcoal. That is why people are getting curious about how to make briquettes from coconut shell.
Making Coconut Charcoal Briquettes in Step by Step
As you get by how it is named, the coconut charcoal briquettes making process, you should start by making the coconut charcoal first. After that, you can move on to the briquette-making process. Here are what you have to do:
- Get the old coconut shells and make sure to clean them thoroughly from any coconut hair.
- Dry the shells under the sun or by using a man-made dryer such as an oven or microwave.
- Carbonize the coconut shells by burning them or using the carbonizing machine. If you’re making it in small-scale production, burning it in a drum can do the trick as well. This process will make you get coconut charcoal.
- Wait till the coconut charcoal is cold before starting to crush it into powder form.
- Mix the coconut charcoal powder with water and a binder. For the binder, you can use cornstarch or cassava to scratch around 3-5% of the mixture. Meanwhile, for the water, you can add it accordingly, so the mixture will have a 20-25% moisture concentration.
- Mold the coconut charcoal mixture into a uniform shape. To do so, you can use a pipe to shape the charcoal briquettes or any other molder.
- Dry the now uniformed coconut charcoal briquettes in the oven or right under the sun.
If you are living in a tropical country with abundant coconut shell waste, then it would be a great thing to learn how to make briquettes from coconut shell. Because with this, you can save your budget by getting a biofuel alternative.