Charcoal Production Technology

The charcoal from wood of trees is produced by heating the wood to high temperature in a closed space without oxygen i.e. anaerobic heating. In this process, the wood becomes bone dry at 100°C and further rise in temperature to 300°C initiates pyrolysis. By this the wood is broken down into water vapour, gases, wood acids and tars with the evolution of heat resulting in charcoal. Trees suitable for charcoal production are Prosopis juliflora and Casuarina equisetifolia. The charcoal production is widely done dry southern districts of Tamil Nadu where the prosopis is the mainstay for many livelihoods.