Shell Charcoal is an important product obtained from coconut shell. Shell charcoal is used widely as domestic and industrial fuel.
It is also used by blacksmiths and goldsmiths and in laundries. Shell Charcoal is also used to produce activated carbon.
Activated Carbon produced from coconut shell has certain specific advantages as the raw material can adsorb certain molecular species.
Shell is carbonized by using methods like pit method, drum method, destructive distillation etc. The shell charcoal is the raw material required for the manufacture of activated carbon.
The shell charcoal is manufactured by burning shells of fully matured nuts in limited supply of air sufficient only for carbonisation, but not for complete destruction.
The output of charcoal in the traditional pith method is just below 30 per cent of the weight of the original shells.