Utilization of palm oil shells as a source of charcoal briquettes

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Palm kernel shell is a by-product or solid waste from Palm Oil Mill to be processed into charcoal briquettes or alternative fuels that have high added value from the economy. Charcoal briquettes are a promising alternative biomass fuel to replace conventional energy. Charcoal briquettes are considered to clean fuel because they do not cause harmful toxins. In this paper, we report the processing of palm kernel shells as a producer of charcoal briquettes. So far, charcoal briquette production is carried out through raw materials other than palm kernel shells. This study aims to utilize the palm kernel shells produced by Palm Oil Mill for charcoal briquettes as a cheap alternative fuel. Charcoal briquette characterization, namely the level of moisture, ash, density and calorific value. Charcoal briquette production is carried out by using the carbonization process method, namely by varying the shell charcoal, the amount of adhesive and the pressure. The best results from the experiment were a mixture of 65% palm shell charcoal, 35% adhesive and using a pressure of 9000 kg/m.s2. Analysis of the charcoal briquettes with a moisture content of 7.8 - 8.5%, ash content from 7.0 – 7.7%, density 0.69 - 0.86 kg/cm3 and a calorific value of 6205 - 6475 cal / gr. With the smaller the moisture and ash content and the higher the density of the charcoal briquettes, the better the charcoal briquettes will be.