Turn those bamboo wastes into charcoal briquettes

Charcoal briquettes can be produced out of bamboo wastes bound by effluents from the manufacture of chichacorn (cornicks).

This was proven in a study done by Dr. Stanley Malab, Beatriz Malab, Jose Zafaralla, and Angelina Tagay of the Mariano Marcos State University (MMSU), a multi-campus institution in Ilocos Norte.

The National Economic and Development Authority-funded project  was implemented by the MMSU-based Kawayan Processing Center in collaboration with the Victor Angel Food Products Processing in Paoay, Ilocos Norte.

The technology won the first prize (development category) in the 2007 National Symposium on Agriculture and Resources Research and Developent (NSARRD) held recently under the auspices of the Department of Science and Technology-Philippine Council for Agriculture, Forestry and Natural Resources Research and Development (DOST-PCARRD).

The technology was the entry in NSARRD of the Ilocos Agriculture and Resources Research and Development Consortium (ILARRDEC), one of the 14 government regional R&D consortia coordinated by PCARRD.

“Beside reducing environmental hazard and pressure in the country’s precious wood resource, the technology can generate additional income and provide employment opportunities in the countryside,” the researchers said.

They explained that the binder of the charcoal particles is one of the major components in the making of charcoal briquettes. The charcoal particles are mixed and compacted together in molders and then shaped into pillows, small barrels, cylinders, or cubes.

Corn and cassava starch is the common recommended binder for briquettes.

Every kilogram of ground material requires 150 grams of cassava flour. But cassava flour is expensive and at times not readily available.

On the other hand, chichacorn effluent contains lime and corn starch that can be used as cheap source of charcoal briquette binder.

“Charcoal briquettes produced in the project were comparable to those available as a commercial scale in other Asian countries,” the researchers noted.

One ton of bamboo wastes requires 650 liters of chichacorn effluents to produce 264 kg of charcoal briquettes.

“When the briquettes were carbonized, shredded, and molded manually, the cost of producing one kilogram of bamboo charcoal was P4.25 and a potential income of P7.75,” the researchers computed. “Production of bamboo charcoal briquette can be mechanized by using drum carbonizer, shredder/pulveriser, and molder/briquetter.” — Rudy A. Fernandez