Carbonization of Young Coconut (<i>Cocosnucifera</i>) Wastes

Abstract

A modified drum-type carbonizer was fabricated for the carbonization of young coconut waste. The major modification made was increasing the number of air inlets from four inlets per layer to eight inlets per layer, for three layers. Three tests were made by adjusting the number of air inlets opened. Water boiling test was performed using the three charred samples from the three tests. The first test had eight inlets opened, the second test had six, and the last test had five. The actual recovery and efficiency of the carbonizer were computed based on the data obtained. Observations were made on the charcoal produced and then it was subjected to water boiling test to determine its quality based on the stove's efficiency. The modified version produced higher amount of charcoal and low amount of uncharred young coconut waste than the original. It was also more efficient in producing young coconut waste charcoal. The original design took a longer time of carbonization operation. Results showed that the carbonizer with 8 air openings obtained the highest actual charcoal recovery of 33.13 % and highest efficiency of 64.8 % in the carbonization process. The water boiling test showed that the average thermal efficiency of the stove is 19.32 % and comparable with the thermal efficiency of the same stove using wood charcoal of 20 %. It means that the quality of charred young coconut waste is comparable to wood charcoal.