From the situation of the customers we contacted, about 80% of the customers are not sure what machines they need to produce charcoal briquettes when they inquire, especially some newcomers who are just beginning to understand biochar. Because it involves many factors such as raw materials, processing volume, finished products, etc., it is tough to judge without relevant experience. Some customers try to collect relevant content on the Internet, but some information is not true and objective. Sometimes the same question can get different answers, which is confusing, and it takes a lot of time and effort. Therefore, we decided to make a guide to help customers quickly understand the production process of charcoal briquettes, the machines required, common raw materials, and the shapes and uses of various finished products.
Choosing the right production process for charcoal briquettes based on raw materials
Ok, let’s talk about raw materials first. There are many raw materials that can be used to produce charcoal briquettes. Generally speaking, we can classify them into two categories: one is raw materials that can be directly carbonized, and the other is raw materials that are not suitable for direct carbonization.
Raw materials that can be directly carbonized include wood, bamboo, coconut shells, nut shells, etc.
Raw materials that are not suitable for direct carbonization include sawdust, rice husks, peanut shells, sunflower seed shells, sugarcane bagasse, etc. Please note that we used “not suitable” instead of “not possible”. The reason is that theoretically these raw materials can be carbonized (except fine sawdust), but in real production, we must consider the efficiency issue because their bulk density is very low. The weight of rice husks is much lower than that of wood when the same volume of carbonization furnace is filled, resulting in much less charcoal produced by carbonizing rice husks than by carbonizing wood. For this type of raw materials, we recommend compressing them first to make them into biomass logs with higher density, then carbonizing the biomass logs into charcoal. Therefore, the raw materials determine the production process to a large extent.
Process and machinery for producing charcoal briquettes from low bulk-density raw materials
Let’s start with the raw materials that are not suitable for direct carbonization. If your raw materials are low bulk density, like sawdust, rice husks, peanut shells, sunflower seed shells, bagasse, etc., you need to make biomass briquettes first and then carbonize them. The requirements for raw materials for biomass briquette making are that the size is less than 5 mm and the humidity is less than 12%. Therefore, it is necessary to consider whether need to add the two raw material processing steps, crushing and drying, according to the actual situation of the raw materials. The entire complete process is raw materials → crushing → drying → rod making → carbonization → finished carbon rods. The main machines required are crushers, dryers, biomass briquettes making machines, and carbonization furnaces.
Biomass crusher
Some larger biomass materials that do not meet the requirement of less than 5mm need to be processed by a crusher first, such as sunflower seed shells, peanut shells, straw, sugarcane bagasse, etc. We usually recommend using hammer mills, which are most suitable for crushing such fragmented materials and have the highest efficiency.
Rice husks or fine sawdust do not need to be crushed. If the moisture content meets the standard, they can be directly used to produce biomass briquettes.
Sawdust dryer
After the raw material size is qualified, continue to confirm that the humidity of the raw material is less than 12%. According to our experience, most customers’ raw materials need to be dried, because we have encountered many customers who think that their raw materials are dry enough (customers feel it themselves, without measuring the humidity through tools) and do not choose dryers. Still, they cannot make them when producing biomass briquettes. Therefore, it is recommended that customers purchase a moisture tester locally to test the humidity of the raw materials when they are hesitating whether to buy a dryer. There are two types of biomass dryers, one is a hot air flow dryer with a drying capacity of less than 500kg per hour, and the other is a drum dryer, which is suitable for an output of more than 600kg per hour.
Sawdust briquette machine
After the raw materials are processed, the loose raw materials are squeezed into rods using a sawdust briquette machine. The molding cylinder of the sawdust briquette machine is wrapped with a set of heating rings. The lignin in the biomass raw materials softens at a temperature of 200 to 300 degrees. At the same time, under the extrusion of the high-speed rotating spiral, the raw materials are compressed into square or hexagonal hollow rods through the molding cylinder. The diameter of the rod is 5cm or 7cm. It can be used directly as fuel, or it can be carbonized into charcoal in a carbonization furnace for barbecue, stove cooking, industrial boiler heating, etc.
Carbonization furnace for sawdust briquettes
Compared with traditional charcoal kilns, carbonization furnaces have shorter carbonization time and are more energy-efficient and environmentally friendly. The carbonization furnaces we produce are of different types, which are divided into dry distillation carbonization furnaces and self-ignition carbonization furnaces according to the heating method of carbonization. According to the method of loading carbonized materials, they are divided into vertical and horizontal types. Each type of carbonization furnace has its own advantages and disadvantages. For example, the dry distillation carbonization furnace can recycle the combustible gas generated during the carbonization process and burn it to generate heat as the external heat source required by the carbonization furnace. The self-ignition carbonization furnace ignites the material inside the carbonization furnace and does not require additional fuel to heat the carbonization furnace.
The end product charcoal made from the biomass briquettes
The shapes of biomass briquettes are only square rods and hexagonal rods, so the finished charcoal after carbonization is the same shape and size as biomass briquettes.
Process and machinery for producing charcoal briquettes from wood, coconut shells, bamboo, etc
For raw materials suitable for direct carbonization, the process of producing charcoal briquettes is as follows:
1. Carbonize the raw materials into charcoal
2. Crush charcoal into charcoal powder
3. Mix the charcoal powder with water and binder
4. Make charcoal briquettes
Obviously, you can find that this production process requires the addition of binders and water. From the perspective of calorific value alone, the calorific value of charcoal briquettes produced by this process is not as high as that produced by the above process. However, in actual use, the calorific value requirement is only one aspect. If you want to make charcoal briquettes into different shapes to meet different usage scenarios, then you can only choose this process. The equipment corresponding to this process is carbonization furnace, charcoal crusher, charcoal powder mixer, and charcoal briquette machines.
Horizontal carbonizer
In this process, we recommend using a horizontal carbonization furnace to carbonize wood, bamboo, coconut shells, etc. for the following reasons:
1. In terms of appearance and structure, the horizontal carbonization furnace can be made into a larger model, which can hold more raw materials and produce more charcoal.
2. In terms of transportation, the horizontal carbonization furnace is easier to ship when the container size is fixed.
3. The operation is simpler than the hoisting carbonization furnace.
4. The horizontal carbonization furnace of the dry distillation type is cheaper than the vertical carbonization furnace of the dry distillation type.
Charcoal crusher
The charcoal crusher is used to crush lump charcoal, bamboo charcoal, coconut shell charcoal, etc. into charcoal powder. Our charcoal powder machine is hammer-type, with a wide upper feed, which can handle large-sized charcoal. The bottom discharges the charcoal powder, and both dry and wet materials can be crushed.
1. Spraying water on the charcoal blocks before crushing can reduce dust and pollution.
2. Equipped with a 1.5-meter-long conveyor belt, it is more convenient to collect and pack charcoal powder.
3. The charcoal powder machine can be fixed or movable to meet different usage scenarios.
Charcoal powder rolling mixer
The roller rolling charcoal powder mixer can mix charcoal powder, adhesive, and water evenly. The general formula ratio is 100 kg of charcoal powder, about 45 kg of water, and about 5 kg of adhesive. Commonly used adhesives are cassava starch or corn starch.
Why is rolling needed in the charcoal powder mixing? Rolling can increase the density of the mixed charcoal materials, which is more conducive to the molding of charcoal briquettes.
Different charcoal powder briquette machines
One advantage of carbonizing the raw materials into charcoal first and then producing charcoal briquettes is that it can produce charcoal briquettes of different shapes. You can choose the charcoal briquettes machines below according to the shape of the briquettes you want to produce.
Conclusion
The above content mainly introduces how to choose the appropriate production process and machines for producing charcoal briquettes according to the raw materials. To be honest, it is impossible for one article to cover all the details and answer everyone’s questions. If you have any questions about How to choose the machines for producing charcoal briquettes, please do not hesitate to contact us, we welcome your inquiries and discussions at any time.
