Olive is a common economic plant, mainly used to produce olive oil and table olives. Globally, the olive tree is planted on more than 15 million hectares, about 80% of these trees are located in the Mediterranean region, and olives are the cornerstone of the agricultural economy and sustainable development of some of these countries. The production of olive oil produces a significant amount of agricultural residue, which can be made into olive charcoal. Others, such as olive wood and olive stones, can also be used as raw materials for the production of charcoal. These ingredients are cheap and readily available in areas where olives are grown.
Below, we briefly introduce the process and machines for making charcoal from different olive raw materials.
Natural olive wood charcoal and olive pit charcoal
For the olive tree to have a better metabolism, promote the growth of fruit trees, and produce more high-quality fruits, the olive trees in the olive plantation need to be pruned every year, so there will be a large number of olive branches and aging wood sources. Olive wood has a high density, is very solid, and has high hardness. It is an excellent raw material for making charcoal. These olive woods can be directly charred to natural charcoal by the carbonization furnace.
Similarly, olive pits are also woody and hard, and are usually carbonized directly to make charcoal.
Similar to palm kernel shell carbonization, you can choose the appropriate carbonization equipment based on your required production scale. Similar to palm kernel shell carbonization, the appropriate carbonization equipment can be selected based on the desired production scale. For small-scale, low-cost operations, a traditional charcoal kiln can be built, or a vertical carbonization furnace can be used. For large-scale carbonization, a continuous carbonization furnace can be chosen.
Olive pomace
Olive pomace is the solid residue remaining after the initial pressing of olives to extract olive oil. It mainly consists of the peel, pulp, and pit. Frankly, olive pomace alone is not an ideal raw material for charcoal making, as it is not considered wood. Users can try mixing dried olive pomace with 50% sawdust, then shaping it into briquettes using a sawdust briquetting machine, and finally carbonizing the shaped briquettes to get charcoal. This process is the same as sawdust briquettes charcoal making; details can be found in the article below.
