8/6/2019 Processing of Coconut Shell Into Activated Carbon

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PostharvestPT2004-03

PracticalF F T C Technology

Processing of coconut shell into

activated carbon/charcoal

Cooperating agency for this topic:

FFTC: An international information center for 

small-scale farmers in Asia

Indonesian Assessment Institute for Agricultural Technology,

Riau Province, Indonesia

Fax: 62 0761 674206

E-mail: bptp-riau@p.baru.wasantara.net.id

Food and Fertilizer Technology Center (FFTC)5F, 14 Wenchow St., Taipei 106, Taiwan ROC

Tel.: (886 2) 2362 6239 Fax: (886 2) 2362 0478

E-mail: fftc@agnet.org Website: www.fftc.agnet.org

Coconut shell, a by-product of copra processing, is a

good material for activated carbon/charcoal (Fig. 1).

Activated charcoal (charcoal activated with CO2, water 

vapor, or chemical compounds) made of coconut shell

has advantages compared to other materials (wood, rice

husk, corn cob) because of its ability to absorb color or 

aroma. It is used as supporting material for food and

non-food industries (processing of cooking oil, sugar,

and chemical matter purification).

Generally, coconut production at farmer level is

1 ton/ha, with coconut shell by-products of 0.9 ton,

which in turn can yield 0.36 ton of activated charcoal.

Price of activated charcoal is Rp 4,246,379.00/ton

(US$440.00), income obtained is Rp 1,528,696.00

(US$158.00).

Processing of activated charcoal

Materials and equipment

! Coconut shell

! Drum or burning sink (Fig. 2)

! Oven

! Plastic pail

! Crusher wood/iron! Draining tray

! Distilled water 

! Sieve, 100 mesh

Fig. 1. Coconut shell

Fig. 2. Drum or burning sink

8/6/2019 Processing of Coconut Shell Into Activated Carbon

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Fig. 3. Powdered coconut shell

Methods

! Separate and clean coconut shell from other 

materials, such as coconut fiber or soil.

! Sun dry.

! Burn dried coconut shell at burning sink or drum

at 300-500

o

C for 3-5 hours.! Soak charcoal in chemical solution (CaCl2or 

ZnCl225%) for 12-18 hours to become activated

charcoal.

! Wash charcoal with distilled/clean water.

! Spread on tray at room temperature to be

drained.

! Dry in oven at temperature 110 oC for 3 hours.

! Crush or refine activated charcoal with crusher 

wood/iron into size of 100 mesh (Fig. 3).

! Pack activated charcoal in plastic.

 Quality standard

Quality standard for activated charcoal determined by

the Department of Industry, Indonesia with SII 0258-79

are as follows:

Item Quality requirement

Loss matter during max 15%

burning at 950 oC

Water max 10%

Ash max 2.5%

Absorbability min 20%

on Iod solution