The Effect of Charcoal Composition from Candlenut Shells (Aleurites Moluccana) and Rubber Fruit Shells (Hevea Brasiliensis) on the Quality of Charcoal Briquettes

Charcoal briquettes are a type of solid fuel that can be used as a complement to fossil fuels because they are made from biomass waste. The advantages of charcoal briquettes are that they have high calorific value, high density, uniform size and quality, easy to store and ship. The purpose of this study was to analyze the effect of charcoal composition from candlenut shells and rubber fruit shells. A simple completely randomized design was used with 5 treatments with 5 replications for testing density, moisture content, compressive strength, and 5 treatments with 3 replications for testing volatile matter, ash content, fixed carbon, and 5 treatments with 2 replications for testing calorific value. The test results showed the following values: average density 0.52-0.66 gr/cm3, moisture content 9.52-11.23%, compressive strength 0.78-2.03 kg/cm2, volatile matter content 31.50-43.31%, ash content 6.79-15.48%, fixed carbon 29.96-52.15%, and calorific value 4,986.73-6,057.89 cal/g. The best quality charcoal briquettes were obtained from treatment A (100% candlenut shells) and the best combination was found in treatment B (75% candlenut shells and 25% rubber seed shells). The calorific value of charcoal briquettes has met the SNI No. 01-6235-2000 standard (>5,000 cal/g), except for 100% rubber fruit shell charcoal briquettes