Factors That Affect the Quality of Charcoal

To produce good charcoal, purchasing good equipment is one factor, but mainly it depends on the selection of raw materials and the techniques for making mechanized charcoal. Each element cannot be overlooked. Below, our De'an Charcoal Machine Equipment Factory will explain what factors are closely related to making good charcoal.

First, the Selection of Charcoal Raw Materials

When making charcoal, the selection of raw materials is an important indicator. As is well known, the plant kingdom can be divided into perennial woody plants and annual herbaceous plants. In principle, woody plants are the best-quality raw materials for making mechanized charcoal. They can produce high-quality charcoal with ash content below 4%, fixed carbon above 80%, and calorific value of 7,500 kcal/kg, with a market price between 2,800 yuan/ton and 3,600 yuan/ton. Charcoal produced from herbaceous plants has ash content around 20%, fixed carbon at 60%, and calorific value of 5,000 kcal/kg, which can only be used as heating charcoal and does not sell well in the market.

Second, Drying and Briquetting:

After raw materials enter the factory, they go through screening and drying before producing raw material rods. Drying is the key step before forming and briquetting. The moisture content after drying must be reduced to between 12% and 6% before briquetting can proceed. Therefore, the selection of the dryer is very important with high requirements - it must be able to dry raw materials with 35% moisture content down to about 10% in one pass. For beginners, they often fall into a misunderstanding: if the briquetting machine cannot form properly, if the formed raw material rods have cracks, low weight, and low density, they mistakenly think the briquetting machine is not good, while ignoring the role of the dryer. Whether the raw material moisture content is qualified is closely related to the quality of briquetting. Drying is the prerequisite, and forming comes afterward. Therefore, the drying indicators determine forming and quality - this point is relatively very important.

Third, Carbonization Methods: Earth Kiln, Self-Combustion Method, Dry Distillation Method:

1. Earth Kiln: The advantage is that earth kiln carbonization can ensure charcoal yield. The disadvantage is longer time, 5-7 days. There is significant smoke during carbonization. Currently, most areas have high environmental protection requirements, making production quite difficult.

2. Self-Combustion Method: Currently, most manufacturers' square kilns adopt the self-combustion method, relying on the fuel rods' own generated heat to carbonize themselves, essentially oxygen-deficient combustion, with high finished product yield.