How To Make Activated Carbon From Coconut Shell?
EPC project with annual output of 3,000 – 40,000T
Do you want to know how to make activated carbon from coconut shell? Or start a business of coconut shell activated carbon plant? This is the right way to get a full and useful introduction to coconut shell charcoal production.
Finished product – coconut shell activated carbon
Coconut shell activated carbon is made of high-quality coconut shells and refined through a series of production processes. Coconut shell activated carbon is black in appearance and has two types granular and columnar. It has the advantages of developed pores, good adsorption performance, high strength, easy regeneration, economical and durability.

Based on all these advantages we mentioned above, coconut shell activated carbon is widely used in metallurgy, chemical industry, petroleum, electric power, food, drinking water, pure water, beverage, industrial water deep purification, and precious metal refining liquor to reduce the degree of turbidity, and zeolite, molecular sieve with better effect, well received by users of welcome.

Why coconut shell activated carbon bussiness is so hot? The preparation of activated carbon is currently the main product of deep processing of coconut shells. Coconut shells are fired into coconut shell charcoal and further activated to make coconut shell activated carbon. 1 ton of coconut shell can process about 300 kg of coconut shell charcoal, and can further extract about 120 kg of coconut shell activated carbon. It is a good way to turn biomass into money and protect our environment.
Coconut shell activated carbon manufacturing process
There are several types of process to make activated charcoal from coconut shell, today we takes physical activation method as example.
Note:The physical activation method refers to one of the methods of producing activated carbon under high temperature conditions using air-steam mixed gas, water vapor or other gas as the activator and using a special furnace type. Activated carbon produced by this method has the advantages of developed pore structure, huge specific surface area, strong adsorption performance, high mechanical strength, small fluid resistance, stable chemical properties, high purity, and easy regeneration.


Step1: Preparation of raw materials
Firstly, we do selection of the coconut shell. There are two main sources of raw materials for coconut shell activated carbon on the market, one is Hainan coconut shell and the other is Indonesian coconut shell. Hainan coconut shells are thin and not very dense, while Indonesian coconut shells are thicker and denser. In contrast, the quality of activated carbon processed from Indonesian coconut shells will be better. After selection of raw materials, pre-treat coconut shell through some sections such as drying, crushing and screening before going to next step.

Step2: carbonization
Secondly, one of key processes –carbonization process begins. Put the screened coconut shells into the carbonization equipment, dry the raw materials at a temperature of 170-600 °C, and carbonize 80% of the organic tissue in the same amount. After burning to a certain extent at high temperature, the charcoal kiln is closed to allow air to enter, and then the residual heat continues to heat and dry distillation, so that the moisture and wood tar in the coconut shell are leached out, and the coconut shell activated carbon is formed.
ITEM | Parameter | ITEM | Parameter |
Materials | Hard wood material | induced draft fan | Power: 40KW, air volume of 35000 ㎡/h, wind pressure: 2590MP |
Raw materials | Moisture <15%, particle size:1-20cm, ash content<3% | Feed way | hoist or screw feeder |
Finished carbonized material | Moisture <1%, ash content<5%, volatile component:15-18%, particle size:1-10cm, iodine sorption value: 120-200mg/g | Carbonization conditions | oxygen-poor carbonization |
gas composition | Water, carbon dioxide, and carbohydrates | ||
out-feeding temperature | 350-400℃ | dusting method | Cyclone collector, bag filter, spray device |
temperature behind the cooler | <50℃ | Cooling method | Converter natural cooling tube, external cooling water bath converter |
Power | <100kw | Equipment material | Q345 |
quantity of steam | 1.5-3t/h | Refractory materials | steel fiber reinforced castable, high alumina refractory brick |
steam pressure | 5kg | Insulation thickness | >40cm |
steam flow | 1.6-2.3t/h | Aluminum content of resistant material | >45% |
flue gas temperature at inlet | 600-800℃ | maximum temperature of resistant material | >1300℃ |
Furnace temperature | <660℃ | gas amount | 15,000 m3/h |
Flue gas incinerator temperature | 800-960℃ | temperature sensing thermocouple | Unit:6, Heat-resistant: 1200℃ |

Step3: activation
Thirdly, put carbonized coconut shell into activated rotary kiln, Oxygen-containing gases as water vapor and flue gas (mainly CO2) are used as activators, and activated by redox reaction in contact with carbon at high temperature. The main operating conditions of the activation process include activation temperature, activation time, flow rate and temperature of the activator, feeding speed, oxygen content in the activation furnace, and etc.

Step4: Grinding and screening
Fourthly, after activation, the finished coconut shell activated carbon is made. Sometimes, the client may have specific requirement in size, and then we need send coconut shell activated carbon to the grinding mill (Raymond mill).The finished activated carbon is screened according to the customer’s particle size requirements. The common coconut shell activated carbon particle sizes are 6-12 mesh, 8-16 mesh, 10-24 mesh, 20-40 mesh, 200 meshes, 325 meshes and so on.

Step5: Pickling, washing and drying (optional step)
This is an optional step for coconut shell activated carbon production, according to the technical requirement, part of finished activated carbon need pickling to remove impurities. 5% hydrochloric acid can be used as pickling agent in a dedicated pickling tank. After heating and boiling. Then drain the spent acid. Washing process is used for removal of acid of materials, PH value is generally controlled to 5-7. Washed materials must be dried until the moister content reach 10%(or the value is decided by clients.)

Step6:Packing
Finally, the packaging specification of coconut shell activated carbon is generally 25kg/bag or ton bag, and the packaging bag adopts double-layer woven bag, which is strong and has moisture-proof function.
One thing to be clear, this is an example process for coconut shell activated carbon making, we can provide customization service according clients’ real working condition and requirements.
AGICO CEMENT- leader in coconut shell activated carbon production
AGICO CEMENT is a proffesional EPC solution provider for activated carbon, apply for raw materials like wood, coconut shell, sawdust, rice stalk and other biomass materials. We have built many successful cases all over the world.








Our advantages
advanced technique
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200+ successful cases
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coconut shell activated carbon machinery
AGICO CEMENT activated carbon production plant is design to coconut shell activated carbon making, our recomended coconut shel activated carbon equipment is based on our sucessful cases.
- Carbonation kiln: the advantages of a carbonization furnaces are low carbonization, easy control, large output, and the heat source that can be recycled and reused, low construction cost.
- Activation kiln: the iodine adsorption value is greater than 1200mg/g-1300mg/g. And the product quality is stable. Sustainable production, non-stop furnace within 2 months.
- A set of crushing, screening and dust removal equipment
- Laboratory equipment




Post-processing equipment
- Crushing equipment. Hammer crusher is used for coarse material, and roller crusher or Raymond mill is used for activated fine material.
- Screening equipment: the carbonized raw materials are screened to 5mm-30cm, and the under 5mm is under the screen, and the ash content is high, so it is not suitable for deep processing to make high-quality coal. Screening equipment: choose vibrating or turbulent vibrating screen machine and rotary screen.
- Acid washing equipment adopts self-built acid-resistant pool,
- Drying equipment Self-built fire pit or tumble dryer
- Sand removal equipment Specific gravity stone removal machine
- Iron removal equipment Self-made or purchased, mainly removes iron in materials.
cost estimation of Coconut shell activated carbon plant
For new beginners who want to start a business of coconut shell activated carbon production, the remarkable thing is coconut shell activated carbon production is a resource intensive business,
In some countries that are rich in coconut, coconut shells are produced in large quantities and at low prices. Making full use of the coconut shell resource advantages to rationally develop activated carbon products has the advantages of small investment, quick effect and high profit. It is very suitable for small and medium enterprises to launch.
Compared with the production of other chemical products, the production of activated carbon is relatively simple. As long as the water and electricity are complete, the transportation is convenient. Build the corresponding equipment to produce.
Taking the medium and high-grade coconut shell activated carbon production line with an annual output of 4,300 tons as an example, according to the process requirements and product specifications, it is estimated that the annual consumption of coconut shell raw materials is 30,000 tons.
successful cases






Coconut shell activated carbon uses
As a high-quality and powerful adsorbent, coconut shell activated carbon is very versatile and can be used to purify air and drinking water, extract gasoline from natural gas, purify kerosene, ammonia and acetylene, filter toxic gases, and can also be used to make dry batteries and cigarettes Decolorization and refining, deodorization, deodorization, disinfection and purification in sugar, pharmaceutical, chemical, food, reagent, brewing and environmental protection industries.
Coconut shell activated carbon has the best application effect in chlorine removal, oxygen absorption and catalytic carrier, and is also the best gas mask filter material. In petrochemical oil refining, gold and other precious metals extraction industries, coconut shell activated carbon is irreplaceable.






From the point of view of liquid adsorption:
Tap water, industrial water, electroplating wastewater, purified water, beverages, food, pharmaceutical water and electronic ultrapure water can also be used for purification, decolonization and filtration of fine chemical, pharmaceutical chemical (requires identification) and biopharmaceutical (requires qualification) process products, There are also environmental protection engineering wastewater, domestic sewage purification, deodorization, etc.
From a gas adsorption point of view:
Adsorption and recovery of organic solvents, such as benzene, oil and gas, CS2, biochemistry, paint industry, underground sites, leather factories, animal farms, deodorization, smoke odor adsorption, sulfide adsorption, etc.
Unit | Parameter |
---|---|
Particle size(mesh) | 4-8, 6-12, 10-28, 12-20, 8-30, 12-30, 20-50 mesh |
Filling density (g/ml) | 0.45-0.55 |
Strength (%) | ≥95 |
Ash content (%) | ≤5 |
Moisture (%) | ≤10 |
iodine sorption value (mg/g) | 900-1250 |
methylene cyanine adsorption value (mg/g) | 135-210 |
PH value | 7-11 or 6.5-7.5 or 7-8.5 |
specific surface area (m2/g) | 950-1200 |
Note (high standard activated carbon for water purification) | the activated carbon used in water purifiers must contain heavy metals: arsenic ≤10ppb, aluminum ≤200ppb, iron ≤200ppb, manganese ≤200ppb, and lead ≤200ppb |
Coconut shell activated carbon market analytic
For new beginners, one of your considerations will be development potential of coconut shell activated carbon.
At present, there are mainly five countries in the world that produce coconut shell activated carbon, the proportions are the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand, mainly because these countries have a large area of coconut trees and are rich in coconut shell resources. The export volume of coconut shell activated carbon from these five countries accounts for more than 70% of the global coconut shell activated carbon export scale, and the export volume continue to increase at a growth rate of about 4% every year.
Judging from the overall development trend of the activated carbon market at this stage, the global coconut shell activated carbon market demand will continue to rise in the future, and the domestic coconut shell activated carbon market scale will also maintain a stable growth trend. On the one hand, environmental pollution has become a global problem, activated carbon is being used more and more in the fields of air purification and water purification; on the other hand, although china’s economic development has entered a new track and economic growth has slowed down, The overall development scale of the industrial industry is still expanding, and the demand for activated carbon is also expanding. At the same time, the application demand of coal-based carbon has shown a downward trend due to resource and environmental protection issues, and the market demand for coconut shell activated carbon and fruit shell activated carbon has continued to rise.