production of charcoal from and

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

), 11This decla ratio n IS Hl ad On the ... . \F'J . ~\! ...... day of .. )~ .i1~.. ) ('a r ....... . . . .

S1 ud e nt' s Declaration :

I ..~'!!':\ ~';'!.~~~ _ . !?/~~~!~_ ..,::~.,,~\I.·.'! ._ ~_ ..?':~.~ ~~. I..~J..! .~ '~_I' rO~\\ ~ . ~~ __R,. ...~!< ...?'~!: .'!~ ,. _ . .~~:~.J~~~!~.", ~ (PLEASE INDICATE NAJ'vIE , MATRIC NO , .-'.ND FACULTY) hereby decl are that Ih. wo rk ent li leu, r):,=~~'.:'.,,=~!g.!~ _ _L~~_ .~~.-=- _ !!~ ._ o.:,,-'#. ~o; . c. . ' ~!":'~_ ~I.~.tl!. _ . i m y ()n ~jn IlJ v~ ~~.,;~~j.-:, ..~~ .:~.~~. ~,=,~~~~r: ... . .'ork. I liave

Hot Cop le d from a ny ot her students' work Ot' from a ny other sou rces with t-h(~ f' xce plton where d ue l'd~r-ence o r acknow l ed~ement IS made exp licitly in the tex t , nor ha s a ny part of t he work bC"pn

wn ltc n fol' me by a nother person.

7 - - Date sub mi tt ed Name of th~ . tude nl (MatJ'ic No,)

""'Jt ... ~M. ..\ 1:'",-.., IL't .clA ~ g lClh,~ .., Uq<;

S upe rvi s or' s De~" laJ'ation :

I,..........J:{!!!~·I ...Jl ..,!~ ."".~..... ..... ...... ..... . (SUPERVISOR'S NA ME), here by c~ rl1fy lhat t he work

t 'tl d P'.l.u,'., 1 4:i (k~'r".-,\ It." Prt ""t-.........""'nH... (TITLE) d b Ie n 1 e , ..•... ····· r·· f •• • ••••••••••• • •••••••••••••••••• • •••••• •• • '-;1 ... .. . ... . \vas prepnl'e y I Ie ("'J &'l4! r.. ;.c,"""_u~ ,,',r.,

a foreme ntioned 01' abnvp me nh oned stude n t, a nd wa s f ub ,mtt {\d to tJw " FACULTY" as a ,. par tlaUfu ll fulfilhnent. for the conferm ent of .~':-~':'~~:!..~... ~ .':!! .,! ~1 ..~_~_~. __~.(. ~~~!".~ .. L~~!. :.~..~.~:!~-:~(f"

Zr: ,"or c .... ,.,.. .1""'J.: ..... ··t... (PLEASE I NDICATE THE DEGREE TITLE), a nd Ihe Rfol'enl<'nuoneli work, to t he best of my knowledge. is the stud s tude nt's work

Rocelved for exami nat lun by: Date: ~_.::J,.::,.=-~~,~__ (Na me of t h r !=; uPf'I'vlso r)

• I

1 dec·lnre tills Pl'oJe(' tfI'hes ls l!$ classIfied as (P lease tick (\1»:

o CONFIDENTIAL (COll ta ms con lidentla l m[onnallon und er Lhe o[ficiai Secret Act 1972)* DRESTRI C'TE D (Cuflta1l1S I' s t ricted informa tion as specified by t. he orgamsation where

re~arch was done)* 0 0PEN ACCESS

[ declare t his P rojectffhesis is t lJ be submitted to the Ce D1 re [or Acade mic In for mfltlo n Ser vices (CAl S) a nd upl oaded ml o l 1NL\1AS Institutional Repos JlolY (UNIMAS IR) (P lease l ick (.,I)) :

BYES DNO

Va li d ation oC P r oju.ctlThcsis

I herehy duly a ffirm ed with free consent and wdhngness declared that t h 1:::i ::iGl ld Pl'o)ect. lThesls sh all be nJHce(l officially in the Centre for Acadenuc InformatlOn Services wIth the abid e inLeres l an d

r i ghl~ as follows:

ThiS Projec t/ThesIs IS the sole legal property of Univel'si t.i Ma laysia Sa ra wa k (U NITv1AS) . • T he Ce n ' l'e for Academic Information Services hID! the law ful r ighL to ma ke cop ies or t he

Project/ThesIs for academic and resea rch p urp0!:l?s tlnly a nJ nn t for ot her p urposE's . T he Centre for Aca demic Information Sen' lce~ hOt:! fhe lawful nght to dlg it lZ€' t h (~ cont()ll t to be uploa ded into Loca l Content Data ba se .

• The Centre for Aca demic In forma tion Servlces has t he law ful righlto make copies of the Pro)ectlThes ls If reqUIred for use by ot.he r pa rtles for academlc purposes or by ot hf' l' Higher Lea rning Ins titutes. No d ispute or a ny claim s ha ll a rise from the stud e n t himself I he rse lf ne ithe r a th ird pa r ty on thiS ProJectlThesis once it become!-l- the sole p rope rty of UNIMAS . T hIS Projedi Thesis or a ny ma tel·ial , data a nd info rma tIon reJated to it s hall not be d ist ributed, p ublis hed or dlsclosed to a ny pa rty by the s tuden t himself/herself withoul firs t obta ming app rova l fro m UNIMAS.

Studen t's s ig na tu rc _ __//"""_____ S uperv isor's s igna tu re: _~----; '----'-~ (Du,,,! I~ . J too It .J., J

Cu rrent Addre85 :

~.::O--,-; ' .::......;1-'- ,--,- = ,,,,'" "''.:.,-----,- ~~" =<:..:::....~1 ~ ~",:. 1.1u~ \ ~ \ ''', p.:.' == 1 ' --,1.<. " "",,>,..,,C.:.c: ' ' P-,-,-,= ~--,Q,,, .. , ..,I(

Nolos: * lfthp P roJecliT hesw is CO NFIDENTIAL or RESTRI CTED, pl ease attach togethe r as a nnexure a let te r from the organisatlOl1 with the date of l'f:stnctlOn mdlca ted, a nd the r(' n~on s for lh (, co nfide n ttah ty a nd res trictIOn.

[~p in strument was prepared by The Centre for Academic Information Se rvices]

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


Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (UNIMAS)

Date:

………………………………….

(Dr. Freddy Yeo Kuok San)

Coordinator

Department of Plant Science and Environmental Ecology



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


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.

9

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.

production of charcoal from and

Documents