State of the Art in the Production of Charcoal: a Review

Abstract

The use of charcoal (CC) for various industries was analysed; the modern ideas about the factors influencing the process of obtaining CC were considered. The effect of raw materials nature (wood or agricultural wastes) and their characteristics (size, physical properties, chemical composition), as well as carbonization temperature, heating rate, oxygen level and pressure on the yield and quality of CC was described. The existing technologies for charcoal production were analyzed; they were classified according to the type of heating initiation and temperature maintenance during the carbonization process. The Lambiotte, DPC and Carbonex technologies were considered.