Industrial Crops and Products 42 (2013) 169174

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Industrial Crops and Products
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Evaluation of a charcoal production process from forest residues of Quercus
sideroxyla Humb., & Bonpl. in a Brazilian beehive kiln
Veronica Bustamante-Garca
a,
, Artemio Carrillo-Parra
a
, Humberto Gonzlez-Rodrguez
a
,
Roque Gonzalo Ramrez-Lozano
b
, Jos Javier Corral-Rivas
c
, Fortunato Garza-Oca nas
a
a
Universidad Autnoma de Nuevo Len, Facultad de Ciencias Forestales, Carr. Nac. No. 85, km145, Linares, Nuevo Len, , C.P. 67700, Mexico
b
Universidad Autnoma de Nuevo Len, Facultad de Ciencias Biolgicas, San Nicols de los Garza, Nuevo Len, , Mexico
c
Universidad Jurez del Estado de Durango, Facultad de Ciencias Forestales, Ro Papaloapan y Blvd. Durango S/N, Col Valle del Sur, 34120, Durango, , Mexico
a r t i c l e i n f o
Article history:
Received 13 February 2012
Received in revised form18 April 2012
Accepted 19 April 2012
Keywords:
Charcoal production
Quercus sideroxyla
Brazilian beehive oven
Elemental analysis
Proximate analysis
a b s t r a c t
Carbonization process from Brazilian beehive ovens and quality of charcoal from residues of branches
and cracked rewood from Quercus sideroxyla were evaluated. Oven temperature and time, charcoal
yields, quality and caloric value were also assessed. In addition, charcoal quality was determined using
proximate and elemental analysis. Moreover, charcoal was classied according to its size. Since values for
immediate andelemental analysis were expressed as percentage, data were transformed using the arcsine
square root function for each studied variable. The relationship between temperature and time process
for cracked rewood and branches were R
2
= 0.99; p< 0.0001 and R
2
= 0.98; p <0.0001, respectively. The
carbonization of cracked rewood was slower (131.6 h), oven temperature reached 975

C and had higher

yield (5.4 m
3
t
1
), compared to branches (86.7 h, 1007

C and 9.2 m
3
t
1
, respectively). The best charcoal
quality was obtained from the middle section of the oven when using cracked rewood; with a mean
caloric value of 32,000 J g
1
, moisture content 3.3%, volatile materials 19.0%, ash 5.2%, xed carbon 72.2%,
and carbon 89.41%. Elemental analysis had the following mean values: H= 2.95%, O= 2.93%, N=0.2%, and
S = 0.01%. The quality size of the charcoal of branches was acceptable according to France and Belgium
standards. The quality of charcoal produced from branches can be improved by controlling air intakes to
prevent increments in temperature.
2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
1. Introduction
New initiatives have been developed for energy models with
the aim of alleviating poverty, energy crisis, as well as to reduce
the damage of environment for excessive use of fossil fuels that
may contribute to greenhouse effect and global warming (Flotats,
2008; Ba nos et al., 2011; Nakata et al., 2011). Dendroenergy is a
sustainable locally available alternative in saw mills. It is a clean
energy source that xes CO
2
fromthe atmosphere during the pho-
tosynthetic processes (Demirbas, 2004; Martnez, 2009; Conesa
and Domene, 2011).
The use of energy from biomass increases the effectiveness
of forest management when obtaining bioheat, bioelectricity and
biofuels throughout direct combustion, thermochemical or bio-
chemical processes, respectively. Charcoal quality depends mainly

Corresponding author.
E-mail addresses: veronica bg80@hotmail.com (V. Bustamante-Garca),
arte carr@hotmail.com (A. Carrillo-Parra), humberto.gonzalezrd@uanl.edu.mx
(H. Gonzlez-Rodrguez), roque.ramirezlz@uanl.edu.mx (R.G. Ramrez-Lozano),
jcorral@ujed.mx (J.J. Corral-Rivas), fortunatofgo@hotmail.com(F. Garza-Oca nas).
of plant species, size of materials, type of kiln and carbonization
process (Pascal, 2005). Moreover, procedures, techniques and raw
materials used for charcoal production are very important for per-
formance and quality. In many countries, the charcoal production
is carried out by traditional methods such as earth kilns or stacks;
however, industrial procedures involve brick kilns, transportable
metal kilns, and retorts (Martn, 1989; Stassen, 2002).
Despite of the fact that charcoal is an important energy source
in Mexico, there is a lack of national standards practices and norms
that regulate the quality and performance ratio and a classication
system. European and Asian markets regulate the charcoal qual-
ity based on standards of physicochemical characteristics such as
colour, sound, ignition velocity and particle size (Ayn, 2003). In
the United States of America, the charcoal quality is based upon
xed carbon according to DINEN1860-2:2005, the size of charcoal
pieces, homogeneity, non-sparking, amount of dust and impurities
(Stassen, 2002; Petrovi c and Glavonji c, 2011). The main problem
of the charcoal production chain in Mexico is the low carboniza-
tionyield withhighproductioncosts and waste. Additionally, there
are no regulations governing the production process and charcoal
quality fromdifferent systems. By controlling the production pro-
cess may allow to producers an increasing in the competitiveness
0926-6690/$ see front matter 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.indcrop.2012.04.034
170 V. Bustamante-Garca et al. / Industrial Crops and Products 42 (2013) 169174
Fig. 1. Right: Brazilian beehive kiln prototype that shows: (a) steel door, (b) chimney, (c) air inlet, (d) ignition chamber. Left: diagramof Brazilian beehive kiln prototype.
on international markets. Therefore, the objectives of the study
were to evaluate a charcoal production process, charcoal quality
and yield frombranches or cracked rewood of Quercus sideroxyla.
2. Materials and methods
Two types of rawmaterials fromlogging areas were evaluated:
(a) branches and (b) cracked rewood. The size of branches varied
from 3 to10cm in diameter and from 30 to 35cm in length. The
sizes of cracked rewood, of an advanced decay stage, were wood
pieces that ranged from15 to 20cmfromeach side and 30 to 35cm
long. Twenty-one samples were randomly selected fromeach type
of residue with three replicates. The materials were carbonized in
Brazilian beehive ovens. This type of oven was selected because
is more efcient than the traditional ones (Flores and Quinteros,
2008; Arias et al., 2010). The Brazilian beehive ovens are charac-
terized by a circular shape, built of bricks, the roof dome diameter
of 7.06m, height 3.8m, average capacity of 81m
3
of wood, with 36
holes distributed around the oven for air exchange (Fig. 1).
The oven was divided in three levels (top, middle and bottom)
according to its height. In order to compare the variables among
levels, seven samples, identied by different nail sizes, were placed
in each level. The holes were used to control the gas produced
during the carbonization. The temperature (

C) of each oven was

monitored at 4h intervals using Omega thermocouples. The car-
bonization time (h) was also determined.
The charcoal quality produced by each type of residue was char-
acterized by two physicalchemical tests: immediate analysis and
elemental analysis. The International Standard ASTM D 1762-84
(ASTM, 2001) was used to determine the immediate analysis vari-
ables such as moisture content, volatile materials, ash and xed
carbon. A LECO CHN628 analyzer (LECO Corporation, Michigan,
USA) was used to estimate carbon, hydrogen, and nitrogen con-
tent according to the International Standard ASTMD 5373 (ASTM,
2002) (Romero et al., 2007; Rojas and Barraza, 2009). Oxygen was
calculated as the difference of the total ash-free mass and the sum
of carbon, nitrogen, and hydrogen content (Baldock and Smernik,
2007; Conesa andDomene, 2011). Sulphur content was determined
by means of using an elemental analyzer module TruSpec

S (LECO
Corporation, Michigan, USA).
The charcoal size grading was determined randomly from a
selectionof 300bags containing2.5kgof charcoal. Theclassication
was made according to the following charcoal dimensions: class 1
(<2cm), class 2 (from 2cm to 5cm), class 3 (from 5cm to 10cm)
and class 4 (from10cmto 15cm). The charcoal was weighed with
a digital electronic balance Tor-Rey (0.001kg accuracy). Charcoal
yield was determined from the total volume of wood used for the
productionprocess, multiplyingbya factor of 0.6anddividedbythe
weight of the charcoal produced (Whiteman et al., 2002; Picardo
et al., 2008).
Sincedatacorrespondingtoimmediateanalysis, elemental anal-
ysis and charcoal size fragments (quality) were expressed on a
percentage basis, but they did not have the assumption of normal-
ity, thus were transformedto the arcsine square root functionusing
the KolmogorovSmirnov test (Steel and Torrie, 1980). The signif-
icance of results was analysed using the PROC MODEL and PROC
TTEST according to the SAS/ETS

statistics software package (SAS

Institute Inc., 2004). Experimental data were statistically analysed
using one-way analysis of variance with a factorial arrangement
being type of residue (branches and cracked rewood) and position
in the oven (top, middle and bottom) the factors (Steel and Torrie,
1980). Where the F-test was signicant (p<0.05), the differences
were validated using the Tukeys honestly signicant difference
(HSD) test and were considered statistically signicant at p=0.05
for all pair-wise comparisons (Steel and Torrie, 1980). To compare
charcoal yield (m
3
t
1
), temperature (

C) and carbonization time

(h) the t-test was performed. The relationship between tempera-
ture and carbonization time was adjusted to the model (Eq. (1))
proposed by Challice and Clarke (1965):
y(T) = a e

0.5

t x
0

(1)
Where T is the temperature (

C), is the parameter representing

the peak of temperature (

C), t is the time (h), x

o
is the position
of the temperature peak,
o
is the parameter describing the peak
wide at the middle of minimumtemperature.
3. Results and discussion
The coefcients of determination (R
2
) to relate the tempera-
ture of carbonization as a function of time for cracked rewood
and branches were 0.9955 and 0.9734, respectively (Fig. 2). The
carbonization process for branches was 86.7h and the maximum
temperature was 1007

C (Fig. 2). Conversely, 150h were required

for the cracked rewood process with a maximum temperature
of 1000

C (Fig. 2). During the carbonization process, the three

main wood components i.e., lignin, cellulose and hemicellulose,
were degraded at different levels, being the hemicellulose the rst
component to breakdown at 100

C. In a closed system, the burn-

ing intensies, and consequently, crystalline cellulose breakdown
range from 300 to 400

C (Rothermel, 1972; Rentera et al., 2005).

However, Aragn (2009) noted a release of energy from 220 to
350

Cas a result of thebreakdownof glycosidic linkages andoccurs

a partial depolymerization of the cellulosic component.
The lowest charcoal yield was obtained when using branches
(9.2m
3
t
1
; Table 1). Branches are smaller than cracked rewood
V. Bustamante-Garca et al. / Industrial Crops and Products 42 (2013) 169174 171
Time (h)
0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160
T
e
m
p
e
r
a
t
u
r
e

(

C
)
0
200
400
600
800
1000
1200
1400
Branches
Cracked firewood
Branches
Cracked firewood
T=1795.55*exp(-0.5*((t-121.40)/33.28)^2)
R
2
=0.9734
p=0.0001
T=1022.66*exp(-0.5*((t-122.11)/32.88)^2)
R
2
=0.9955
p=0.0001
Fig. 2. Temperature pattern as a function of time during the carbonization pro-
cess frombranches and cracked rewood of Quercus sideroxyla in Brazilian beehive
kiln. Experimental plotted values are denoted in lled (branches) and open (cracked
rewood) circles. The curves correspond to the tted model (Eq. (1); see Section 2).
and consequently more material is needed to reach temperatures
above 1000

C. Neves et al. (2011) related charcoal yields with

material size and they found that these reactions induce the release
of tars. The higher wood volume without conversion to charcoal
was obtained from the oven containing branches due to the het-
erogeneous carbonization process. Free areas between materials
during the carbonization process may facilitate air circulation, and
leads to a sharp temperature increase, modifying the carbonization
process (Garca, 2010). Cracked rewood produced more charcoal
yields per unit of raw material (5.4m
3
t
1
). Font et al. (1993) and
Bhat and Agarwal (1996) mentioned that low heating rates and
moderate nal temperatures are required to achieve acceptable
charcoal oxidation levels.
In this study, signicant differences between residues were
detected for charcoal humidity, volatile materials and xed car-
bon; while for oven positions, statistical differences were observed
in volatile materials and xed carbon (Table 2). Similarly, signif-
icant differences between residues, positions and the interaction
residues positions were found for caloric value, carbon, hydro-
gen, oxygen, nitrogen and sulphur content data (Table 2).
The charcoal humidity data (3.23.9%; Table 3) were lower
than the 7% that is the maximumvalue accepted by the European
quality standards (NBN M11-001 and NF N 846 E). Total volatile
materials ranged from 12.5% to 27.9% being higher in branches
than in cracked rewood (Table 3). It seems that volatile materials
content in charcoal increases the compressive strength, friability
and fragility (Ayn, 2003; Demirbas , 2003). Volatile concentration
materials from 12% to 16% reduce smoke release (Di Blasi, 2008).
According to Ayn (2003) Asian and European markets allow a
maximumrate of 12% of volatile materials.
Table 1
Cubic meters of residues required to produce a ton of charcoal, and non-carbonized
wood fromthe carbonization process of cracked rewood and branches fromQuer-
cus sideroxyla in a Brazilian beehive kiln. Values are means (n=3) standard errors.
Variable Residue t value p value
Cracked rewood Branches
Residues (m
3
) 5.4 0.1 b 9.2 0.2 a 424.06 0.0005
Non-carbonized
wood (m
3
)
1.4 0.3 b 4.2 0.6 a 16.75 0.0149
Means followed by different letters (a, b) indicate signicant differences between
residues at p=0.05 according to the t-test for each comparison.
Ash content ranged from 3.7% (cracked re wood and bottom
position) to 6.7% (branches and top position; Table 3). Lower values
(2.7%) obtained fromoak charcoal, were reported by Syred (2006).
The ash content is an industrial pollutant product. In fact, it affects
the management of the charcoal and increases the costs of the pro-
cess (Ahmaruzzaman, 2009; Serrano, 2009). According to Blanco
et al. (2007) the ash content can reduce ammability by covering
the fuel from oxygen. Belgium and France norms do not consider
the ash content during the evaluation of charcoal quality; however,
for the German norms the maximumacceptable level is 6%.
Higher xed carbon amounts (78.8%) where found at the top
position in the oven when using cracked rewood while values of
about 63.2% were observed in branches in the bottomand middle
positions (Table 3). Higher xed carbon percentage is related to
lower values of volatile materials. In Europe, a charcoal for domes-
tic use must contain percentages of xed charcoal of 75%, 78% and
82% according to NBN M11-001, DIN 51749 (1989) and NF N 846
E standards, respectively. The highest caloric value (33,900J g
1
)
was obtained fromcracked rewood in the middle position of the
oven, whereas the lowest (25,200J g
1
) corresponds to branches in
the middle position (Table 4). Mrquez et al. (2001) reported that
charcoal obtained fromPinus caribaea, Eucalyptus saligna and Pinus
tropicalis under laboratory conditions at 700

C, showed caloric
values of 32,200J g
1
, 32,700J g
1
and 32,200J g
1
, respectively.
Ordaz (2003) in a similar study found the highest caloric value
(8,29,300J g
1
) fromthe middle of the oven. Syred (2006) reported
caloric gures of 32,500J g
1
from oak charcoal produced on
metal oven. Inthis study, charcoal producedfromcrackedrewood
obtained fromoak wood showed the highest values.
In this study, the largest percentage of xed carbon (89.41%)
corresponded fromthe middle of the oven with cracked rewood,
and the lowest value (75.78%) was obtained from branches in the
middle of the oven (Table 4). Higher values (93.1%, 93.6% and 92.7%
respectively) produced under laboratory conditions were reported
by Mrquez et al. (2001) in P. caribaea, E. saligna and P. tropicalis. It
seems that the higher percentage values resulted from a uniform,
high carbonization temperature and speed. However, Demirbas
(2003) analysed the charcoal used in an industrial boiler and found
81.5% of xed carbon. The same author reported that the char-
coal produced frompruning residues had a xed carbon value that
varied from65 to 85%.
Inthis study, thehighest percentageof hydrogenincharcoal was
obtained frombranches at the top and bottomof the oven with val-
ues of 3.35% and 3.32%, respectively (Table 4). A higher value (4.0%)
was obtained by Demirbas (2003) in charcoal samples, which may
indicate that hydrogen and oxygen molecules are released during
the steaming process from the reactions that form mainly H
2
, CO
and CO
2
. Then, throughout the synthesis of gas they are converted
into ammonia, methanol and other products.
In this study, the highest percentage of oxygen was obtained
frombranches (9.1%) at the bottomlevel of the oven and the lowest
content (2.9%) occurred in the middle of the oven for cracked re-
wood(Table 4). The lowest percentage of oxygenandcaloric value
occurredinbranches at thebottomof theoven. Thesendings agree
withCalventus et al. (2009) andMrquez et al. (2001) whoreported
that low oxygen levels might decrease the fuel caloric value. In
this study, the greatest nitrogen content (0.42%) was observed in
branches placed in the middle of the oven (Table 4). The amount of
nitrogen obtained from charcoal has not the same negative effect
to the environment as compared to fossil fuels (Jenkins et al., 1998;
Demirbas , 2003; Robinson et al., 2003; Serrano, 2009). In addition,
Di Blasi (2008) suggested that the charcoal produced at low tem-
peratures retains more nitrogen; however, at higher temperatures
hydrogen, carbon, and nitrogen are released.
Sulphur levels were highest (0.04%) for charcoal obtained from
branches in the middle of the oven (Table 4). High content of
172 V. Bustamante-Garca et al. / Industrial Crops and Products 42 (2013) 169174
Table 2
Calculated means squares (MS), F and p values of the analysis of variance to detect signicant differences for humidity, volatile materials, ash, xed carbon, caloric value,
carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen and sulphur of charcoal produced fromcracked rewood and branches at three oven positions.
Source of variation
Variable Residue (R) Position (P) RP Error
MS Value MS Value MS Value
F p F p F p
Humidity 2.3 6.0 0.02 0.2 0.6 0.53 1.1 2.8 0.07 0.4
Volatile materials 304.2 16.8 0.01 89.8 4.9 0.01 16.2 0.9 0.42 18.1
Ash 39.2 2.9 0.09 3.0 0.2 0.80 10.8 0.8 0.46 13.6
Fixed carbon 308.6 20.8 0.01 53.6 3.6 0.03 9.4 0.6 0.53 14.8
Caloric value 86,15,400.5 616.0 <0.001 13,59,838.9 97.2 <0.001 62,29,926.0 445.5 <0.001 13,985.4
Carbon 80.7 3482.4 <0.001 5.0 216.3 <0.001 44.0 1899.8 <0.001 0.02
Hydrogen 0.1 119.0 <0.001 0.7 786.0 <0.001 0.2 177.3 <0.001 0.01
Oxygen 21.0 110.5 <0.001 33.8 177.7 <0.001 3.3 17.2 <0.001 0.19
Nitrogen 0.9 3325.8 <0.001 0.1 380.7 <0.001 0.5 1700.1 <0.001 0.01
Sulphur 0.3 345.8 <0.001 0.1 50.7 <0.001 0.1 146.2 <0.001 0.01
Table 3
Humidity, volatile materials, ash and xed carbon percentages fromcharcoal of cracked rewood and branches at three oven positions in a Brazilian beehive kiln. Values are
means (n=18) standard errors.
Residue Oven position Humidity (%) Volatile materials (%) Ash (%) Fixed carbon (%)
Cracked rewood Bottom 3.9 0.1 a 22.1 2.5 ba 3.7 1.0 a 70.1 2.4 ba
Middle 3.3 0.1 a 19.0 1.7 ba 5.2 1.5 a 72.2 2.5 ba
Top 3.8 0.1 a 12.5 2.0 b 4.8 1.0 a 78.8 1.7 a
Branches Bottom 3.2 0.1 a 27.1 1.8 a 6.3 0.4 a 63.2 1.7 b
Middle 3.4 0.1 a 27.9 3.6 a 5.2 1.5 a 63.2 3.5 b
Top 3.3 0.1 a 23.0 2.9 a 6.7 1.1 a 66.8 2.8 b
Means followed by different letters (a, b) indicate signicant differences for the combination residue oven position at p=0.05 according to Tukeys honestly signicant
difference (HSD) test for each comparison.
Table 4
Caloric value (J g
1
) and contents (%) of carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen and sulphur of cracked rewood and branches at three oven positions in a Brazilian beehive
kiln. Values are means (n=18) standard errors.
Residue Oven position Caloric value Carbon Hydrogen Oxygen Nitrogen Sulphur
Cracked rewood Bottom 30,800 5.3cd 82.02 0.23 d 3.06 0.02 c 6.63 0.29 b 0.28 0.01 d 0.02 0.01 b
Middle 33,900 4.4 a 89.41 0.05 a 2.95 0.01 d 2.93 0.06 d 0.21 0.01 e 0.01 0.01 c
Top 32,000 7.5 b 84.28 0.06 b 3.25 0.02 b 5.80 0.10cb 0.30 0.02 c 0.01 0.02 c
Branches Bottom 30,500 5.3 d 80.53 0.04 e 3.35 0.03 a 9.12 0.01 a 0.28 0.01 d 0.02 0.01 b
Middle 25,200 6.8 e 75.78 0.13 f 2.86 0.01 e 5.21 0.38 c 0.42 0.01 a 0.04 0.02 a
Top 31,400 1.7 cb 82.83 0.02 c 3.32 0.01 a 6.22 0.01 b 0.36 0.01 b 0.02 0.01 b
Means followed by different letters (af) indicate signicant differences for the combination residue oven position at p=0.05 according to Tukeys honestly signicant
difference (HSD) test for each comparison.
sulphur in charcoal has negative effects since it could reduce the
temperature for expulsion of gases and the oxidizing process,
allowing the synthesis of SO
3.
These alterations could produce
technical troubles in boilers and eventually induce sulphuric acid
(H
2
SO
4
), which is then released to the atmosphere (Jenkins et al.,
1998; Robinsonet al., 2003). Demirbas (2003) determinedacontent
of sulphur of about 3.0% from charcoal used in a boiler. However,
this value does not represent an environmental concern since the
content are lower than fossil fuels. Strahler (1992) reported that
sulphur content in oil varies from0.1% to 5.5%.
The results fromcharcoal size frombags had signicant differ-
ences between type of residues (Table 5). The highest production of
Table 5
Analysis of variance of charcoal size classication from two forest residues from
Quercus sideroxyla.
Variable Means squares t value p value
Class 1 3034.79 52.77 <0.001
Class 2 3414.68 95.67 <0.001
Class 3 1027.19 48.65 <0.001
Class 4 1837.08 20.97 <0.001
charcoal fromClass 4 (1015cm) was obtained fromcracked re-
woodwith51.5%(Fig. 3). Charcoal Class 3 (510cm), frombranches
had the highest percentage (30.5%) and charcoal from cracked
rewood was 23.8%. The highest value of charcoal from Class 2
(25cm) corresponded to branches (29.4%), while a value of 12.5%
was observed in cracked rewood. Cracked rewood was the type
of residues that had the highest percentage of charcoal for Class 1
(<2cm) with 12.2%. Charcoal obtained frombranches had the low-
est percentage of nes (4.0%). The size of packed charcoal fromthe
two types of studied residues exceeded the maximum allowable
by DIN EN 1860-2:2005 for US markets. Less than 10% of charcoal
should exceed 8cm. However, charcoal from Class 3 and Class 2
produced fromboth rawmaterials are acceptable by this standard,
considering at least 80% greater than 2cmand not more than 7% of
thecharcoal shouldmeasure1cm. Fromthetworawmaterials, only
cracked rewood exceeded the maximum rates. According to the
specications sizes of produced charcoal, it is accepted for Belgium
and France markets, except Class 1 from cracked rewood, which
exceeded the maximumacceptable limits.
Rojas andBarraza (2009) statedthat the maincriterions usedfor
the market are moisture content, ash, volatile material and caloric
value. These properties are related to the initial temperature and
V. Bustamante-Garca et al. / Industrial Crops and Products 42 (2013) 169174 173
Residues
Branches Cracked firewood
P
e
r
c
e
n
t

(
%
)
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
Class 1 (<2 cm)
Class 2 (2 to 5 cm)
Class 3 (5 to 10 cm)
Class 4 (10 to 15 cm)
Fig. 3. Charcoal size classication fromtwo types of residues of Quercus sideroxyla.
Values are means (n=100) standard deviation.
time when maximumenergy is released, and the total time for the
carbonization process. It is also important to avoid losses of energy
by heating the ash. However, the quality of charcoal frombranches
was lowduetotheheterogeneityof thecarbonizationprocess, even
though it was exposed to high temperatures, it showed a high per-
centage of volatile materials and low yields. Another factor that
may affect is the energy loss during the process, since part of the
material has been consumed during the process. Moreover, there
were spaces in the oven with cold spots due to the gaps, resulting
in a poor heat transfer inside the oven (Garca et al., 2009).
4. Conclusions
The production process and quality of the charcoal obtained in
Brazilianbeehivekilnwhenusingcrackedrewoodwas acceptable.
The carbonization process was slow but stable since the materials
were controlling the temperature inside the oven. The homogene-
ity of the process is reected in the maximum performance, high
caloric value, and acceptable values for carbon, nitrogen, sulphur
and hydrogen content. The highest quality was obtained at the
top of the oven with cracked rewood. The percentage of xed
carbon, volatile materials, ash and moisture content were within
the range of international standards. In addition, charcoal particle
size distribution satised international standards, except charcoal
Class 1 (<2.0cm) from cracked rewood. In order to produce and
assure charcoal of good quality following international standards,
it is highly recommended to crack the charcoal before packing.
The carbonization process when using branches produced a
heterogeneous charcoal. The lowest quality was observed in the
middle of the oven with the lowest values of xed carbon, heating,
elemental carbon, as well as the highest percentage of hydro-
gen, nitrogen and sulphur. It was observed that the temperature
increased rapidly, leading to an increase in the consumption of raw
material, conducing to lowyields and lowcharcoal quality.
Acknowledgements
The authors wishtothankthe support fromthe companyNoram
de Mexico, SA de CV, especially to M.Sc. Jose Guadalupe Garcia
Molina and M.S. Allison L. Ludvik Vanderhop for their techni-
cal assistance. Useful suggestions fromtwo anonymous reviewers
helped to improve the manuscript.
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