Booklet on

BIOMASS CHARCOAL
BRIQUETTING
Technology For Alternative Energy Based
Income Generation In Rural Areas

Shri AMM Murugappa Chettiar Research Centre

Taramani, Chennai 600113.

December 2010

Title

: BIOMASS CHARCOAL BRIQUETTING

Technology for Alternative Energy Based
Income Generation In Rural Areas

Authors

: Dr. P. Sugumaran, Programme Officer

Dr. S. Seshadri, Director (R & D)
Shri AMM Murugappa Chettiar Research Centre,
Taramani, Chennai 600 113.
Email : energy@mcrc.murugappa.org
Web : amm-mcrc.org

Financial Support : DST-Core support Programme

SEED Division - SP/RD/044/2007
Department of Science and Technology (DST)
Ministry of Science & Technology,
Block-2, 7th Floor C.G.O Complex,
Lodi Road, New Delhi- 110 003.
Publisher

: Shri AMM Murugappa Chettiar Research Centre,

Taramani, Chennai 600 113.
Email : energy@mcrc.murugappa.org
Web : amm-mcrc.org
Phone : 044-22430937; Fax: 044-22430369

Printed by

: J R Designing, Printing and Advertisement

Solutions, Palavakkam, Chennai - 600 041.
Ph. +91-9962391748
Email : info.jrdp@gmail.com

Year of Publishing : December 2010

Contents
I.

Introduction

a.

What is charcoal?

b.

How it is prepared?

c.

What is biomass charcoal briquetting?

II.

Biomass charcoal briquette production

III.

Materials and methods

IV.

Materials required

4.1. Biomass collection

4.2. Carbonization of biomass

4.2.1 Fabrication of Charcoal kiln

4.2.2 Carbonization process

4.2.3 Char yield

10

4.3. Binder preparations and mixing

10

4.4. Fabrication of Briquetting machine

11

4.5. Briquetting

13

4.6. Drying, Packing and marketing

13

4.8. Biomass Briquettes used as alternative fuel

13

V.

Capital investments

13

VI.

Cost benefit analysis

14

VII. Who will get benefited

14

VIII. Advantages of the technology

15

IX.

Charcoal Uses

15

X.

Technology Transfer

16

Biomass charcoal briquetting An alternative energy based income generation by rural

people I. Introduction
World economy is dominated by technologies that rely on fossil energy
(petroleum, coal, natural gas) to produce fuels, power, chemicals and materials. While the use of conventional energy like oil, coal and electricity
has increased enormously in the last 25 years in ASEAN economies, India still imports crude oil & petroleum over 111.92 million tones per year.
This heavy dependence on imported oil leads to economic and social
uncertainties. Currently there is a strong worldwide interest in the development of technologies that allow the exploitation of renewable energy
sources, both for environmental (release of pollutants and fossil reserves
depletion) and economical reasons.
Biomass, a domestic energy source is naturally abundant and presents
promising renewable energy opportunity that could provide an alterna-tive
to the use of fossil resources. Biomass being the third largest primary
energy resource in the world, after coal and oil (Bapat et al., 1997), it still
meets a major fraction of the energy demand in rural areas of most
developing countries. In all its forms, biomass currently provides about
1250 million tonnes oil equivalent (mtoe) of primary energy which is about
14% of the worlds annual energy consumption (Hall et al., 1991; Werther
et al., 2000]. The use of biomass feedstock(s) for the substitution of fossil
fuel(s) has an additional importance from climate change con-sideration
since biomass has the potential to be CO2 neutral. A number of research
and development efforts towards the conversion of raw biomass feed
stocks into improved quality fuels (solid, liquid or gas) through bio-logical
and thermo-chemical conversion processes have been made glob-ally in
the last three decades.
The decreasing availability of fuel wood in most of the developing countries has necessitated the efforts be made towards efficient utilization of
agricultural residues (Grover and Mishra, 1996; Tripathi et al., 1998). Raw
agricultural residues have many disadvantages as an energy feed-stock
(Balatinecz, 1983). These include (i) relatively low calorific value, (ii)
difficulty in controlling the rate of burning, (iii) difficulty in mecha3

nizing continuous feeding (iv) large volume or area required for storage,
and (v), problems in its transportation and distribution. Several of these
disadvantages may be attributed to the low bulk density of agricultural
residues which can be converted into high density fuel briquettes (Biomass charcoal briquettes). Charcoal is a premium fuel widely used in
many developing countries to meet household as well as a variety of other
need (Goldstein, 1981; Demirbas, 2001). Recent improvements in
technology for charcoal briquettes production with increased efficiency has
renewed the interest in the use of charcoal briquettes as a fuel that can be
easily stored and transported (Sugumaran and Seshadri, 2009).

Agricultural residues constitute one of the important biomass feed

stocks in India. In general the agricultural residues can be divided into
two groups; crop residues and agro-industrial residues. The major crop
residues produced in India are straws of paddy, wheat, millet, sorghum,
pulses, oil seed crops; maize stalks and cobs; cotton and mustard
stalk; jute sticks; sugarcane trash; leaves; fibrous materials; roots;
branches and twigs with of sizes, shapes, forms and densities. The
agro-industrial resi-dues are rice husk, groundnut shell, cotton waste,
coconut shell, coir pith, tamarind shell, mustard husk, coffee husk,
Cassava peel etc. Some of the common agricultural by-products
available in large quantities include bagasse, rice husk, groundnut
shell, tea waste, Casuarina leaf litter, silk cotton shell, cotton waste, oil
palm fiber and shells, cashew nut shell, coconut shell, coir pith (Iyer et
al., 2002; Sugumaran and Seshadri, 2009) etc.
MCRC working on several technologies has developed and expertise
in biomass charcoal briquetting technology over the past few years.
This technology can prove to be one among the solutions for
supplementing the fuel requirements and socio-economic development
of the rural areas by providing employment to rural people. It is cost
effective, environ-ment friendly and improve our air quality, and support
rural economies. At the same time, the natural forest would also be
saved. Bio-char pro-duction programme could lead to establishment of
new small employ-ment oriented businesses in rural areas and raising
the income of people engaged in such activities.
4

a. What is charcoal?
Charcoal is the blackish residue consisting of impure carbon
obtained by removing water and other volatile constituents from
animal and vegeta-tion substances.
b. How it is prepared?
Charcoal is usually produced by slow pyrolysis, the heating of wood,
bone char, or other agricultural substances in the absence of oxygen
en-vironment at 450 - 510 C by using either in a kiln or a
continuously-fed furnace called a retort. The resulting soft, brittle,
lightweight, black, po-rous material resembles coal and is 85% to 98%
carbon with the remain-der consisting of volatile chemicals and ash.

c. What is biomass charcoal briquetting?

Briquetting is the process of converting low bulk density biomass
into high density and energy concentrated fuel briquettes.

II. Biomass charcoal briquette production

The biomass charcoal briquetting technology developed at MCRC uses
a modified kiln and a briquetting machine that can be fabricated locally
to produce Bio-char from various biomass samples. The technology involves use of a cost effective binder to prepare the briquettes.

III. Materials and methods

Briquetting process
Biomass collection
Drying Carbonization
Preparation of Char
powder Binder
preparation & Mixing
Briquettes
production Drying &
Packing Marketing

Materials required
1. Biomass waste - Agricultural, industrial or forest
2. Charcoal kiln / drum (150 cm x 100 cm)
3. Briquetting machine (15kg / hr)
4. Binding materials (eg.starch or cassava flour)
6

4.1. Biomass collection

Collect different type of waste biomass such as paddy, wheat, millet, sorghum, pulses, oil seed crops; maize stalks and cobs; cotton and mustard
stalk; jute sticks; sugarcane trash; leaves or industrial wastes such as rice
husk, groundnut shell, cotton waste, coconut shell, coir pith, tamarind
shell, mustard husk, coffee husk, Cassava peel, bagasse, tea waste, Casuarina leaf litter, silk cotton shell, cotton waste, oil palm fiber and shells,
cashew nut shell, coconut shell, coir pith or commonly available plants like
Prosopis twigs, Ipomoea stem, Lantana camara stem, coconut fronds,
Eucalyptus leaves and dry under sunlight.

4.2. Carbonization of biomass

4.2.1 Fabrication of Charcoal kiln

The large size-charring kiln or drum is a portable cylindrical

structure with the top cut out to place the chimney. The drum size is
about 100 cm height and 150 cm width made up of 16 gauge iron
sheets. In the lower side, two fire ports with a door (12 height x 20
width) are provided. Above the firing portion an iron perforated sheet
with holes is fixed. The bottom side of the drum is closed with iron
sheets and provided with 4 legs (see the schematic diagram).

Advantages of the kiln

Easy to operate and maintain; easily viewable during
carbonization; higher char yield & lesser time of operation; Cost
effective; Saves extra biomass
4.2.2 Carbonization process
Separate the biomass
into stems, leaves and
fruits and cut them into
short pieces. Use each
wastes separately for
carbonization.
For
carbonization,
loosely pack the collected biomass into the kiln.
The kiln will accommodate ~ 100kg dry biomass. After loading the
biomass into the kiln,
close the top of the kiln
with metal lid attached to
a conical chimney. Use
little amount of biomass
in the firing portion to
ignite in the kiln and
close the doors tightly to
start
the
pyrol-ysis
process. In the ab-sence
of air, the burning
process is slow and the
fire slowly spreads to the
biomass through the
holes in the perforated
sheets.
9

4.2.3 Char yield

After the biomass gets fully carbonized (~ 1-2 hrs; depending upon
the biomass), remove the lid and sprinkle water over the char. Use
the resul-tant char powder for preparation of briquettes. Though the
carbonization process produces @ 30-45% char powder on an
average, the char yield varies according to the biomass used.

4.3. Binder preparations and mixing

A binder is used for strengthening the briquettes. The carbonized
char powder can be mixed with different binders such as
commercial starch, rice powder, rice starch (rice boiled water)
and other cost effective mate-rials like clay soil and mixed in
different proportions and shaped with the help of briquetting
machine.
For preparation of
binding material add
starch to water in the
ratio of 10:1 and allow it to disperse
without any clumps.
Then heat the solution for 10 minutes
and do not allow it to
boil (the final stage
can be identified by
the stickiness of the
10

Binder preparation

Solution adding

Charcoal powder

Binder mixing

solution). After boiling, pour the the liquid solution onto the char
powder and mix to ensure that every particle of carbonized char
is coated with the binder. This process enhances charcoal
adhesion and produce identi-cal briquettes.
4.4. Fabrication of Briquetting machine
A meat mincer mould (Model No.32) along with a 1HP electric motor fit-ted
appropriately is used as a briquetting mould. The briquetting machine is
divided into two different portions such as lower and upper portions.

The lower portion is fitted with a 1HP single-phase electric motor

fixed on a flat platform. The upper portion has the briquetting
mould (model no 32, cylindrical type; 10kg/hr) fixed on to a
wooden plate placed 1ft. above the lower platform. Both the
plates are fixed on iron angles and covered fully using stainless
steel sheets. The
motor and the briquetting mould are
connected using a
wheel and V-belt. To
control the mo-tor, a
power indica-tor and
a 5 Amps switch
were provid-ed in
the front side of the
briquetting machine
(see the schematic
diagram).
11

12

4.5. Briquetting
The charcoal mixture with binder can be made into briquettes
either man-ually or using machines. For the mechanical
operation, load the mixture directly into the briquetting mould /
machine to form uniform-sized cy-lindrical briquettes.
4.6. Drying,
mar-keting

Packing

and

Collect the briquettes in a tray,

dry them in sunlight for 2 or 3
days and pack them in sealed
plastic bags for sale.
4.8. Biomass Briquettes used
as alternative fuel
Charcoal briquettes can be used
as fuel in rural houses for cooking, laundering and in boilers in
teashops and Ttandoor Chulhas
in small hotels.
Cooking tests conducted using a
non-pressurized cooker (Sarai
cooker, ARTI) shows that 200-250 g of briquettes is enough to cook
food in about 45 - 60 minutes. The heat was stable for 2 hours.
Feedback sur-vey conducted at Thiruvidanthai, Kovalam,
Mahabalipuram and nearby villages in Tamilnadu indicate that the
biomass charcoal briquettes shows higher energy, quick heating in
less time with less smoke and comparable to the wood charcoal.

V. Capital investments
1. Charcoal kiln with chimney 1nos. ~
Rs.20,000/-(Size: 150cm width x
100cm height)
2. Briquetting machine 1no - ~
Rs.20,000/-(Model: prototype, 1hp
motor, 10kg/hr) Total investment
maximum Rs. 40,000/- only

13

VI. Cost benefit analysis

VII. Who will get benefited

Un-employed people in rural areas

Self help groups (SHGs)- men & womens

Farmers
Rural enterprises

14

VIII. Advantages of the technology

1. Smokeless: The charcoal briquettes burn without much smoke
during ignition and burning.
2. Low Ash content: Minimum residual ash formed is less than
5% of the original weight of the charcoal.
3. Calorific value: ~ 6243.58Kcal/Kg (wood charcoal - 6592.52
Kcal/ Kg).
4. Odourless: Contains minimum evaporative substances thus
eliminat-ing the possibility of odour.
5. Sparkless: No sparks are produced like wood charcoal.
6. Less crack & better strength: Helps burn for a longer time.

IX. Charcoal Uses

15

X. Technology Transfer
The technology on Biomass charcoal briquettes production can be transferred to unemployed people in rural areas and rural entrepreneurs.
MCRC can provide necessary assistance in setting-up of a Biomass charcoal briquettes production facility. However, the end user should undertake market study at their own cost and establish their own market.

For More Information, Contact:

Shri AMM Murugappa Chettiar Research Centre (MCRC)
Taramani, Chennai 600113 Fax : +91-44-22430369
Email: energy@mcrc.murugappa.org
Web : www.amm-mcrc.org

References
1. Antal MJ, Grnli M. The art, science, and technology of charcoal
production. Ind. Eng. Chem. Res. 2003; 42:1619-1640.

2. Balatinecz JJ. The potential of densification in biomass

utilization. In: Cote WA, editor. Biomass utilization. London:
Plenum Press; 1983. p. 1819.
3. Bapat DW, Kulkarni SV, Bhandarkar VP. Design and operating
expe-rience on fluidized bed boiler burning biomass fuels with
high alkali ash. In: Preto FDS, editor. Proceedings of the 14th
international con-ference on fluidized bed combustion,Vancouver
ASME, New York, NY, 1997. p. 16574.

4. Bard E. Extending the Calibrated Radiocarbon Record.

Science, 2001; 292: 2443-2444.
5. Budavari S. Merck Index. Whitehouse Station, NJ: Merck. 1996;1316.

6. Elmenhorst WR. Kiln for drying and revivifying bone black. US

Pat-ent. 1880;235: 942
16

7. Grover PD, Mishra SK. Biomass briquetting technology and

practic-es. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), UN
Document, No. 46; 1996.
8. Hall DO, Rosillo-Calle F, Woods J. Biomass, its importance in
balanc-ing CO2 budgets. In: Grassi G, Collina A, Zibetta H,
editors. Biomass for energy, industry and environment, 6th
E.C. conference Elsevier Science, London, 1991. p. 8996.
9. Smisek M, Cerny S. Active Carbon Manufacture, Properties
and Applications, Elsevier Pub., Comp., New York. 1970; 562563.

10. Sugumaran P, Seshadri S. Evaluation of selected biomass for

charcoal production. J.Sci.Indu.Res. 2009; 68(8): 719-723.
11. Tripathi AK, Iyer PVR, Kandpal TC. A techno-economic evalua-tion of
biomass briquetting in India. Biomass Bioenergy 1998;14(5 6):479
88.
12. Werther J, Saenger M, Hartge E-U, Ogada T, Siagi Z. Combustion of
agricultural residues. Prog. Energy Combust. Sci. 2000; 26(1):127.

17

Photograph
s

18

Training programme photos

19

20

For More Information, Contact:

Shri AMM Murugappa Chettiar Research Centre (MCRC)
Taramani, Chennai - 600113. Fax : +91-44-22430369

Email : energy@mcrc.murugappa.org
Web : www.amm-mcrc.org