production of charcoal from and
TRANSCRIPT
Production of C harcoal fro m Bambusa vulgaris and Del/(lrocaltrll1us (Isper
Muha mmad Iz'aan lzzudd in Bin Zaheid
(47795)
Bachelor of Science with Honours (Plant Resource Science and Management)
2017
NIVE RSITI l\ LAYSIA SARAWAK
Grade :
P lease t ic k (-J)
Final Yea r ProJoct Rop(lI,t [2J Jvia s te1"s D PhD D
DEC LARATI ON OF O RIGI !l:AL WORK
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I
Production of Charcoal from Bambusa vulgaris and Dendrocalamus asper
Muhammad Iz’aan Izzuddin Bin Zaheid
(47795)
This project report is submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirement for degree of Bachelor
of Science with Honours
(Plant Resource Science and Management)
Faculty of Resource Science and Technology
Universiti Malaysia Sarawak
2017
II
APPROVAL SHEET
Name of candidate : Muhammad Iz’aan Izzuddin B. Zaheid
Title of Dissertation : Production of Charcoal From Bambusa vulgaris and Dendrocalamus asper
……………………………………
(Prof. Dr. Ismail B. Jusoh)
Supervisor
Department of Plant Science and Environmental Ecology
Faculty of Resource Science and Technology
Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (UNIMAS)
Date:
………………………………….
(Dr. Freddy Yeo Kuok San)
Coordinator
Department of Plant Science and Environmental Ecology
Faculty of Resource Science and Technology
Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (UNIMAS)
Date:
III
DECLARATION
I, hereby declare that this Final Year Project study is based on my original work except for quotation
and citation, which have been duly declared that it has not been or concurrently submitted for any
degree at UNIMAS or other institutions of high education.
……………………………..
Muhammad Iz’aan Izzuddin B. Zaheid
Plant Resource Science and Management Program
Faculty of Resource Science and Management
Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (UNIMAS)
i
AKNOWLEDGEMENTS
First and foremost, I would like to give my highest praise to The Almighty Allah s.w.t for blessing me
with the great amount of strength, patience and will power to complete this Final Year Project Report. I
would like to bestow my deepest gratitude and sincerest appreciation to my supervisor Prof. Dr. Ismail
B. Jusoh, for the unceasing morale support, guidance, advice, and constant assistant throughout this
project.
I also would like to express my appreciation to all the personnel that helped me during the sample
collections and kiln setup, especially to Mr. Mohd Rizan Abdullah, Mr. Salim Arip and Mr. Adnan. In
addition, I would like to extend my thanks to all of the staff of Faculty of Resource Science &
Technology (FRST), UNIMAS that helped me during the project.
Special thanks to my parents, Mr. Zaheid B. Mohd Hashim and Mdm. Julita Bt. Kamaruddin, for their
endless prayer, morale and financial support to me. Lastly, I would also like to thank to my friends,
Ahmad Salihin B. Ahmad, Ahmad Fahmi B. Tohar, Farah Izzuana Bt. Jaafar, Nurfitrah Bt. Adam,
Muhamad Aliff Khairan B. Azizi and Ria Zamiera Bt. Azhan and all students from Plant Resource
Science and Management Programme for their assistance and support throughout this study.
ii
Production of Charcoal From Bambusa vulgaris and Dendrocalamus asper
Muhammad Iz’aan Izzuddin B. Zaheid
Plant Resource Science & Management
Faculty of Resource Science & Technology
Universiti Malaysia Sarawak
ABSTRACT
Two selected bamboo species namely Bambusa vulgaris and Dendrocalamus asper were utilized for making charcoal by using
steel drum as the kiln. The selected bamboo species had went several preparation steps prior to the carbonization process that
turned them into charcoal. The matured culm of each bamboo species aged between 4-5 years old were cut into pieces of 45-
65cm length. The pieces were cut according to three major sections of the bamboo, which are the top section, middle section
and the bottom section. The pieces were then air-dried for the periods of two weeks before placing them into the kiln for the
carbonization process. The kiln was constructed based on the design of Masato Iwasaki’s steel drum kiln. The carbonization
temperature used was 476±20°C for both selected bamboo species and the temperature were maintained for 5 hours. Proximate
analysis were carried out to determine its content of moisture, ash, volatile and fixed carbon (wt %) and its percentage of yield
were calculated. The percentage of yield obtained from B. vulgaris was 62.1% while D. asper was 72.9%. From the proximate
analysis, the moisture content, volatile matters, ash and fixed carbon for B. vulgaris samples were 3.87%, 18.06%, 4.58% and
73.49%, respectively. Meanwhile, the moisture content, volatile matters, ash and fixed carbon for D. asper samples were 4.09%,
13.91%, 5.59% and 76.41%, respectively. These differences were mainly due to the elemental, chemical and physical properties
of the bamboo species. The scanning electron microscope (SEM) micrograph of the charcoal produced were taken and it showed
that the structure of the charcoal produced from the two species were highly porous. Both bamboo species can be made into charcoal and their charcoal properties showed that they are favorable for many uses.
Keywords: Bamboo, carbonization, charcoal, proximate analysis, scanning electron microscope (SEM)
ABSTRAK
Spesies buluh terpilih iaitu Bambusa vulgaris dan Dendrocalamus asper telah digunakan untuk menghasilkan arang dengan
menggunakan dram keluli sebagai tanur. Spesies buluh yang dipilih telah menjalani beberapa langkah persediaan sebelum
melalui proses karbonisasi yang menukarkannya menjadi arang. Kulma matang setiap spesies buluh yang berumur antara 4-
5 tahun dipotong dengan panjang di antara 45-65cm. Kulma dipotong menjadi kepingan mengikut tiga bahagian utama buluh,
bahagian atas, bahagian tengah dan bahagian bawah. Kepingan tersebut kemudiannya dikeringkan bagi tempoh dua minggu
sebelum meletakkan ia ke dalam tanur untuk proses karbonisasi itu. Dalam projek ini, tanur telah dibina berdasarkan reka
bentuk tanur keluli drum Masato Iwasaki. Suhu karbonisasi yang digunakan adalah 476± 20 ° C untuk kedua-dua spesies
buluh yang dipilih dan suhu ini dikekalkan selama 5 jam sepanjang proses karbonisasi. Analisis proksimat telah dilakukan
untuk menentukan kandungan lembapan, abu, bahan ruapan dan karbon tetap (% berat) dan peratusan hasil telah dikira.
Peratusan hasil yang diperolehi daripada B. vulgaris adalah 62.1% manakala D. asper adalah 72.9%. Daripada analisis
proksimat, kandungan lembapan, bahan ruapan, abu dan karbon tetap untuk sampel B. vulgaris adalah 3.87%, 18.06%, 4.58%
dan 73,49%, masing-masing. Sementara itu, kandungan kelembapan, bahan ruapan, abu dan karbon tetap untuk sampel D.
asper ialah 4.09%, 13.91%, 5.59%, dan 76.41%, masing-masing. Perbezaan ini adalah disebabkan oleh unsur elemental, kimia
dan sifat fizikal spesies buluh. Mikrograf mikroskop elektron pengimbas(SEM) arang yang dihasilkan telah diambil dan ia
menunjukkan bahawa struktur arang yang dihasilkan oleh kedua-dua spesies ini adalah amat berliang. Kedua-dua species buluh ini boleh dijadikan arang dan sifat arang mereka menunjukkan kesesuaian untuk pelbagai kegunaan.
Kata kunci: Analisis proksimat, arang, buluh, karbonisasi, mikroskop electron pengimbas (SEM)
iii
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Acknowledgement i
Abstract ii
Table of Contents iii
List of Tables vi
List of Figures vii
List of Abbreviations ix
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 General backgrounds 1
1.2 Objectives 2
CHAPTER TWO
LITERATURE REVIEW
2.1 Background and distribution of bamboo 3
2.2 Significance of bamboo 3
2.3 Utilization of bamboo 4
2.4 Charcoal from bamboo 5
2.5 Factors affecting charcoal making process 5
2.6 Recent studies on bamboo charcoal 6
2.7 Steel drum as kiln in producing charcoal 7
2.8 B. vulgaris and D. asper bamboo 7
iv
CHAPTER 3
MATERIALS & METHODS
3.1 Preparation of raw bamboo material 8
3.2 Construction of the kiln 9
3.2.1 Carbonization furnace 11
3.2.2 Firewood chamber 11
3.2.3 Connecting the carbonization furnace 12
3.3 Setting up the kiln 13
3.4 Carbonization process 14
3.5 Proximate analysis of the charcoal produced 17
3.5.1 Preparation of sample replicates 17
3.5.2 Moisture percentage (%) 18
3.5.3 Volatile matters percentage (%) 18
3.5.4 Ash percentage (%) 19
3.5.5 Fixed carbon percentage (%) 19
3.6 SEM micrographs of the charcoal produced 19
3.7 Tabulation of data and analysis 20
CHAPTER FOUR
RESULTS
4.1 Charcoal production 21
4.1.1 Percentage of yields (%) 22
4.1.2 Proximate analysis 23
4.1.3 SEM micrograph 26
4.1.3.1 Images of SEM micrographs of B. vulgaris 27
4.1.3.2 Images of SEM micrographs of D. asper 28
v
CHAPTER FIVE
DISCUSSION
5.1 Steel drum kiln 29
5.2 Pyrolysis process 29
5.3 The quality of the charcoal produced 30
5.4 Factors affecting the quality of the charcoal produced 31
5.5 SEM micrographs of the produced charcoal 32
CHAPTER SIX
CONCLUCION & RECOMMENDATION
6.1 Conclusion 33
6.2 Recommendation 33
6.2.1 Kiln set up 33
6.2.2 Preparation of bamboo samples 34
6.2.3 Pyrolysis process 34
REFERENCES 35
APPENDICES
APPENDIX A 39
APPENDIX B 40
APPENDIX C 41
vi
LIST OF TABLES
Page
Table 1: Percentage of yield (%) of B. vulgaris samples and D. asper samples. 22
Table 2: Mean of proximate variables according to portions of both B. vulgaris and 23
D. asper.
Table 3: Mean values of proximate variables of B. vulgaris and D. asper. 25
Table 4: Mean values of proximate variables of B. vulgaris and D. asper. 41
Table 5: Mean values of proximate variables of B. vulgaris and D. asper 42
including its sections.
Table 6: Tukey HSD Test of proximate variables of B. vulgaris and 43
D. asper including its sections.
vii
LIST OF FIGURES
Page
Figure1: Bamboo samples being prepared and cut into pieces for air-drying. 8
Figure 2: Iwasaki kiln main parts 9
Figure 3: The constructed steel drum kiln (side view) 10
Figure 4: The constructed steel drum kiln (front view) 10
Figure 5: (a) Initial setup of the kiln, (b) The kiln complete setup. 13
Figure 6: (a) Bamboo pieces were stacked inside the carbonization furnace. 14
(b) The firewood were lit inside the firewood chamber of the kiln.
Figure 7: (a) The carbonization temperature was constantly monitored with 15
infrared thermometer. (b) The kiln was completely insulated
with soil.
Figure 8: (a) The front opening of the kiln was sealed. (b) The 16
exhaust port opening was sealed.
Figure 9: (a) Powdered charcoal was sieved with 250-microns standard sieve. 17
(b) The powdered charcoal was weighed to four decimal places.
Figure 10: (a) The produced charcoal of D. asper. (b) The produced 21
charcoal of B. vulgaris.
viii
Figure 11: Transverse section SEM micrograph of B. vulgaris charcoal. 27
Figure 12: Perforated pores of B. vulgaris charcoal (Transverse section) 27
Figure 13: Transverse section SEM micrograph of D. asper charcoal 28
Figure 14: Perforated pores of D. asper charcoal (Transverse section). 28
Figure 15: D. asper charcoal porous structure examined according the 39
sections of the bamboo culm using 1.3M digital USB microscope.
(a) top section, (b) middle section and (c) bottom section
Figure 16: B. vulgaris charcoal porous structure examined according the 40
sections of the bamboo culm using 1.3M digital USB microscope.
(a) top section, (b) middle section and (c) bottom section
Figure 17: Error bars with 95% Confidence Interval for proximate analysis 44
of both B. vulgaris and D. asper (a) Mean volatiles matters %,
(b) Mean moisture %, (c) Mean ash%, (d) Mean fixed carbon %
ix
LIST OF ABBREVATIONS
FC Fixed Carbon
cm centimeter
mm millimeter
mg milligram
g gram
kg kilogram
SD Standard Deviation
SEM Scanning Electron Microscope
°C degree Celsius
wt% mass percentage
1
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 General Background
Bamboos are considered as one of the forest most versatile product. It can be utilized into
various things such as construction material, handicraft and furniture, food sources, medicine and
as an alternative domestic fuel resource in a form of charcoal. China, Indonesia and Vietnam
were the major producers and exporters of bamboo in Asia. According to Ball and Lobovikov
(2007), China exported approximately USD $25 million worth of bamboo, roughly a third of the
world total. Followed by Indonesia and Myanmar which exported USD $10.6 million and USD
$7.7 million worth of bamboo respectively. One of the most significant usage of bamboo is that
it can be made into charcoal. Regular charcoal is commonly used in cooking, generating heat and
to the most extend in generating power in steam boilers to drive the motors in electric power
stations.
Malaysian charcoal industries are mainly depending on tree woods obtained from the
timber and wood processing industries. Some of the highly demanded charcoal were produced
from the valuable tree species of Rhizopora apiculata or locally known as Bakau Minyak. This
tree species originated from the mangrove forest that held significant function in the ecosystem.
One of the vital function of mangrove forest is to act as a barrier against the climate change and
natural event such as the tsunami. The area of Kuala Sepetang and Gelang Patah which are in the
state of Perak and Johore, respectively are the main area of mangrove forest that are being
exploited for producing charcoal in Malaysia. If the mangrove forest is continuously exploited
2
without any plans on sustaining it resources, it might pose danger to its natural wildlife and
humans.
Countries such as Thailand and Burma had already begun to use bamboo as their new
alternative raw material source of charcoal in the effort to reduce forest destruction and to
promote economic growth among rural communities. Bamboo have a rapid growth rate and able
to grow in abundance compared to the other woody plant species that might take more than five
years to reach maturity (Tewari, 1992). It is also known that bamboo produces excellent charcoal
(Kumar and Chandrashekar, 2014). By using bamboo as an alternative raw material source in
producing charcoal in Malaysia, environmental problems such as over-exploitation of forest
resources can be reduced and economic improvement among the rural community can be
established as the demand for charcoal in Malaysia increased steadily over the years.
1.2 Objectives
The specific objectives of this project are:
1) To produce charcoal from B. vulgaris and D. asper by using steel drum kiln.
2) To determine the quality of the B. vulgaris and D. asper charcoal produced.
3
CHAPTER TWO
LITERATURE REVIEW
2.1 Distribution of bamboo
Bamboo are plants that are members with the subfamily of Bambusoideae of the grass
family Poaceae. There are 1250 species of bamboo ranging from 75 genera that are distributed
around the world which most of them are woody and fast growing (Ellis and Soderstrom, 1988).
Bamboos mostly nurture at the sea level in tropics and up to 4000 meters in temperate region.
They are found naturally in all subtropical and temperate regions except in Europe but most of
them are mainly distributed in the tropics region (Tewari, 1992). In Malaysia there are 7 genera
that consist of 44 species of bamboos out of which 25 are indigenous (Ng, 1980).
2.2 Significance of bamboo
According to Tewari (1992), bamboos hold its special significance based on the following
four reasons. Firstly, bamboo is faster growing amongst the woody plant species, getting
harvestable maturity in less than five years. Secondly, the plantation technology for large scale
cultivation of bamboo is known. In a meantime, standard practices had been developed with culm
cutting and the tissue culture methods are gaining in advancement. Thirdly, mature bamboo ranks
potentially higher than juvenile wood as material by having less variability in structure. The
fourth reason is despite of the bamboo dynamic and invasive growth habit, it is considered more
“environmentally friendly” in comparison to alien plant species in several countries.
4
2.3 Utilization of bamboo
Bamboos are versatile plants which have around 1500 documented uses (Kumar and
Chandrashekar, 2014). It is able to produce more biomass per acre than any tree and has a great
potential to substitute wood in many ways (Tewari, 1992). Usage of bamboo varies from
household products to industrial applications (Naik et al., 2016). Mainly, bamboo is used as paper
pulp resources, construction material, handicraft and furniture, food source for humans and
animals, medicine and as an alternative of domestic fuel in the form of charcoal for cooking and
heating (Kumar and Chandrashekar, 2014). Besides that, there are some other usage of bamboo
charcoal that are much in need such as in water purification, food industry, pharmaceutical
industry and metallurgical industry (De Freitas et al., 1999). Hu et al., (2009) reported that
charcoal from bamboo were highly effective in removing Ciprofloxacin, which are the major
substance in pharmaceutical waste. Their research also discovered that bamboo charcoal had
higher adsorption capacity, about 613 mg / g much higher than other type of charcoal. Bamboo
charcoal also can be further used as a decolorizing sugar agent, organic preparation and alcohol
and petroleum solvents (Kumar and Chandrashekar, 2014).
5
2.4 Charcoal from bamboo
Bamboo charcoal has been traditionally used as a substitute for wood charcoal and
mineral coal for ages. Bamboo is turned into charcoal through the process known as pyrolysis.
Pyrolysis of bamboo can be divided into four stages namely drying, pre-carbonization,
carbonization and calcination (Jiang, 2007). The calcination stage which also known as the
refining stage is very important in determining the charcoal quality (Jiang, 2007). Pyrolysis will
enter the calcination stage when the temperature is greater than 450°C. Over the advancement of
technology, bamboo charcoal can be use as fuel, adsorbent and conductor in this modern day. In
addition, activated bamboo charcoal can be used for absorbing excess moisture, cleaning
environmental pollutants, producing medicines and health products (Ball and Lobovikov, 2007).
Furthermore, Ahn & Choi (2014) reported that bamboo charcoal had significant antibacterial
properties on the S. mutans bacteria, which are the main contributor to tooth decay problem. At
present, China is the world’s leader in bamboo charcoal production while Japan, Republic of
Korea and Taiwan are the main consumers of bamboo charcoal (Ball and Lobovikov, 2007).
2.5 Factors affecting charcoal making process
According to Kumar et al. (1999) charcoal can be produced from any lignocellulosic raw
material but not all of them yield good quality charcoal. Quality of charcoal differ according to
physical, chemical and anatomical properties of species (Kumar, 2002). In additions,
temperature, heating rate, chemical composition, particle size, moisture content and the
preparation steps are the main factors to be consider in the charcoal making process (Sharma et
al., 1992). Jiang (2007) suggested that the bamboo used to make charcoal should have the
moisture content around 15% to 20%. The kiln temperature during the pyrolysis process must be
6
controlled properly to prevent sudden escalation in temperature, as the bamboo inside the kiln
will crack if the temperature of the kiln rise drastically (Jiang, 2007).
2.6 Recent studies on bamboo charcoal
Ahn et al. (1998) had studied about the general properties of charcoals produced from 3
species of bamboo and find out that the charcoals have the average calorific value of 7,800 kcal/kg
indicating their good fuel potential (Chandrashekar and Kumar, 2014). Meanwhile, Konwer et al
(2007) study involving eight species of bamboo of north east India found out that the charcoal
produced have low fixed carbon content ranging from 62.1% -67.5% thus rendering them
unsuitable for metallurgical usage and only suitable for domestic usage or as fuel gasifiers.
Chandrashekar and Kumar (2014) carried out a study about the yield, chemical composition and
calorific value based on four species of bamboo which were consist of Bambusa bambos,
Dendrocalamus brandisii, Dendrocalamus stocktii and Dendrocalamus strictus. The charcoal
was prepared at a different carbonization temperature ranging from 300°C to 800°C and the
change of fuel properties were evaluated. In their study, they concluded that charcoal yield
decreased with carbonization temperature, whereas fixed carbon, elemental carbon and ash
content increased with the rise in carbonization temperature. From these findings, more study
about fuel properties of bamboo charcoal from the other bamboo species are required in order to
determine which bamboo species are suitable for making charcoal in a larger scale of production
that can generate profits while maintaining natural resources sustainability.
7
2.7 Steel drum as kiln in producing charcoal
The prevalent use of cylindrical transportable metal kilns for charcoal production dated
back in Europe in the 1930's (FAO Forestry Department, 1983). During the Second World War
the technique was further developed by the United Kingdom (U.K.) Forest Products Research
Laboratory. Several versions of the original design have been used throughout the United
Kingdom. This technology was transferred to developing countries in the late 1960's, notably by
activities in the Uganda Forestry Department (Burnette, 2013). Charcoal can be produced in kilns
constructed from standard 45-gallon steel drums. This method has been operated successfully
using fast burning raw materials such as coconut palm timber, coconut shells and scrub wood
(FAO Forestry Department, 1983). Meanwhile, the usage of steel drum kiln in producing bamboo
charcoal are practiced in the country such as Thailand and Myanmar within its rural community
due to the kiln easy construction and efficiency (Burnette, 2013).
2.8 B. vulgaris and D. asper current uses
B. vulgaris species are from the genus Bambusa of the clumping bamboo tribe of Bambuseae
(Tewari, 1992). B. vulgaris are mainly distributed in tropical and subtropical regions in Asia. This
species also can be found along the wet tropics area (Wong, 1995). According to Tewari (1992)
B. vulgaris had many uses. The leaves can be used for animal fodder, the stem can be used for
construction material, the whole plant for ornamental purpose and the young shoot can be
consumed as food for human. Meanwhile, D. asper bamboo is a large , densely-clumping tropical
species native to the Southeast Asian region (Wong, 1995). This species is traditionally used for
building material due to its straight culm, timber-like physical and large culm diameter (Tewari,
1992). The young shoots of D. asper are used as a source of food in Asia.
8
CHAPTER THREE
MATERIALS AND METHODS
3.1 Preparation of raw bamboo material
Samples of Bambusa vulgaris and Dendrocalamus asper were collected from the area of
Kg. Pinang, Kota Samarahan and Sabal, Simunjan, Sarawak, respectively. Total of four culm of
the selected bamboo species were harvested for this project, counting two for each species. The
age of the selected bamboo species were 4 years up to 5 years old. The internode parts of the
bamboo were included for the carbonization and were cut into sections using chainsaw with the
length between 45±0.5cm to 65±0.5cm each (Figure 1). The wall thickness of the bamboo were
around 5±0.5 mm to 30±0.5 mm. Later, the cut sections of the bamboo were split into three pieces
per sections by using axe and machete. The split bamboo pieces were labeled and arranged
according to their respective sections namely the top section, middle section and the bottom
section. Then, they were air dried for 5 days to three weeks to remove any excessive water(Figure
1). After the samples were dried, the dry weight for each samples were weighed and recorded.
Figure1: Bamboo samples being prepared and cut into pieces for air-drying.
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3.2 Construction of the kiln
In this project, the kiln was based on Masato Iwasaki’s designed steel drum kiln (Iwasaki,
2004a) with slight modification. This design was selected because it is simple to be constructed,
cost effective and can be mobilize in a short time. The kiln was constructed with two steel drums.
Basically, the kiln consists of two sections namely the carbonization furnace and the firewood
chamber. The first steel drum was used to construct the carbonization furnace and the second
steel drum for the firewood chamber (Figure 2).
Carbonization furnace Firewood chamber
chimney
exhaust port
Openings
Figure 2: Iwasaki kiln main parts.