Converting Waste Agricultural Biomass into a Resource - UNEP

Making Charcoal from Corn Cobs
Philippines, Commercial
Crop
Residue
Process
Equipment
Main Product
Corn
Corn Cobs
Carbonization
200 liters drum, sprinkler
Charcoal
By products
Technical Description of Technology
Technical Description of Technology
The DENR charcoal is a solid fuel that is produced using leaves, twigs, stems
and other cellulosic forest wastes. Briquettes could be produced with a
density of 1.2 g/cm3 from loose biomass. When burned, it emits a steady heat
with low clean flame. It is easy to ignite and burns completely in at least 50
minutes. Charcoal briquette production from forest wastes was a joint project
of the ERDB (initiated by Baconguis et al.) and the Forest Products Research
and Development Institute (FPRDI) in 2000.
Detailed Process Description
Raw materials were prepared by collecting wood and non-biomass materials
that are traditionally considered as wastes. The materials are then sorted,
chopped and dried in preparation for grinding and shredding. Light or fine
materials (rice hull, leaves, etc.) were carbonized using the metal plate
method. On the other hand, drum method was used for larger materials like
twigs, corncobs, coconut shell, etc. Generally, raw materials were carbonized
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