Powdered coconut charcoal

Organic Chemicals Powdered Coconut Charcoal Addition... 

Coconut shell is the source of two other products, coconut shell flour and activated charcoal. Powdered coconut shell is used in the plastics industry as a compound filler for synthetic resin glues. It is also used as a filler and extender of phenolic molding powders that give a smooth and lustrous finish to molded articles, thereby improving their resistance to moisture and heat. Activated charcoal is an adsorbent for toxic agents. It has been used in gas masks, but can also be used to remove odors and industrial stench. As well, this by-product is a contact catalyst used to facilitate some industrial chemical reactions (61). 

Powdered activated carbon (PAC) can be derived from a number of different agricultural commodities, including waste soy hull (32-36). Commercial activated carbon, however, is manufactured from only a few of these, including wood and sawdust, peat, hgnite, nutshells (including coconut shell), and pits (37). Related materials include animal charcoal, gas black, furnace black, lamp black, and activated charcoal, but these are not used in fats and oils purification and will not be further addressed. 

The most common adsorbant used is granular or powdered activated carbon. This material, which is available from almost all forms of organic carbon-containing matter, is a microcrystalline nongraphite form of carbon. The production of activated carbon can be achieved by use of rotary kilns, hearth furnaces, or furnaces of the vertical shaft or fluidised bed type, and each is suitable for the generation of different pore size and the source of carbon. The pore volume and size are influenced by both the carbon source and method of production. The adsorption properties are directly related to the pore volume, pore size distribution and the nature of the functional groups on the surface of the carbon. Activation is achieved chemically, by treatment by dehydration with zinc chloride or phosphoric acid, or by treatment with steam, hot carbon dioxide or a mixture of both. The activated carbon is available in three basic forms, powder, granules or as cylindrical or spherical pellets. For solvent recovery systems the carbon is usually obtained from either wood charcoal, petroleum residues or coconut shells and is often used in the form of pellets. 

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