Bamboo charcoal

Bamboo charcoal is a charred artificially carbonized bamboo. Unlike charcoal which is mainly used as fuel charcoal, bamboo charcoal is often used as a purpose of living assistance function.

Bamboo charcoal comes from pieces of bamboo plants, harvested after at least five years, and burned in ovens at temperatures ranging from 800 to 1200 °C. It benefits environmental protection by reducing pollutant residue. It is an environmentally functional material featuring excellent absorption properties.

Bamboo charcoal has a long Chinese history, with documents dating as early as 1486 during the Ming dynasty in Chuzhou Fu Zhi. There is also mention of it during the Qing dynasty, during the reigns of emperors Kangxi, Qianlong, and Guangxu.

When making bamboo charcoal can produce bamboo vinegar, can be used for cleaning, disinfection and the like.

Production
Bamboo charcoal is made of bamboo by means of a pyrolysis process. According to the types of raw material, bamboo charcoal can be classified as raw bamboo charcoal and bamboo briquette charcoal. Raw bamboo charcoal is made of bamboo plant parts such as culms, branches, and roots. Bamboo briquette charcoal is made of bamboo residue, for example, bamboo dust, saw powder etc., by compressing the residue into sticks of a certain shape and carbonizing the sticks. There are two equipment processes used in carbonization, one is a brick kiln process, and the other is a mechanical process.

Bamboo charcoal, by the man-made bamboo charring properly. The use of high temperature bamboo charcoal, is divided into three kinds of 800 ℃, 1000 ℃ and 1200 ℃, so the quality of the temperature is divided into three levels. One of the top (top) products is mainly used for filtration and cooking purposes. In Japan and Taiwan, a piece of bamboo charcoal is cooked together on rice during cooking. After using it, it will be used as a moisture-proof and smoke-absorbing odor. After repeated use, it will be broken and piled up in the planted plants. The purpose is different from that of charcoal or coal used as fuel, and bamboo charcoal is mainly used for living subsidy purposes.

For bamboo charcoal used for the purpose of living assistance function, the application may be different depending on the baking temperature (carbonizing temperature), and it is regarded as important. Normally, within the carbonization furnace, the temperature can often be different depending on the location. Those with low carbonization temperature are black in color, soft and easily deformed. The higher the carbonization temperature, the harder it becomes and the higher the conductivity becomes. The color shines like a silver color, and a sound like a metal sounds like “kinkin”. At the time of carbonization, there is a method of taking out charcoal at a high temperature of 800 ° C. or more and cooling it by applying ash. Bamboo charcoal made using this method is called white bamboo charcoal. Also, bamboo charcoal carbonized at a temperature exceeding 1000 ° C tends to shrink fine pores, and the overall adsorption performance decreases. In addition, when used for water purification (especially for drinking water and cooking rice), if carbonization is insufficient, the charcoal itself contained in the bamboo charcoal collapses and sometimes mixes in the water and impurities elute into the water Therefore, attention is necessary.

Features
In China and Japan, many people use bamboo charcoal as cooking fuel, as well as to dry tea. Most bamboo charcoal for fuel is bamboo briquette charcoal, and the rest is raw bamboo charcoal. Like all charcoal, bamboo charcoal purifies water and eliminates organic impurities and smells. It is possible to treat chlorine-sterilized drinking water with bamboo charcoal to remove residual chlorine and chlorides. Because he and his team discovered the longevity of its use, Thomas Edison featured a carbonized bamboo filament in one of his original designs for the light bulb.

Bamboo vinegar (called pyroligneous acid) is extracted during production, and is useful for hundreds of treatments in most fields. It contains about 400 chemical compounds and has many applications, including in cosmetics, insecticides, deodorants, food processing, and agriculture.

Some studies claim adding bamboo charcoal or bamboo vinegar to the diets of fish or poultry may increase their growth rates.

Because of the structure of the bamboo vascular bundles, the finished bamboo charcoal product has the porous characteristic that the surface area increases. The diameter of the pores is about 0.4-0.25 mm , and the average surface area of bamboo charcoal is about 300 m 2. After the activation treatment Bamboo charcoal, the surface area can be as high as 1,200m2 , far infrared emissivity measured thermal emissivity of more than 85%, the wavelength of 4 ~ 14μm. Because of these characteristics, finished products of bamboo charcoal can be used for household products, bedding, automotive products, cosmetic cleaning products, sports and health care, technology products, textile fibers and other aspects , industrial applications can be made of bamboo charcoal capacitors . Compared with nanocrystalline powder, bamboo charcoal fiber is less durable than nanocrystalline powder as a thermal insulation textile, and its far-infrared wavelength can not be controlled .

The effectiveness of finished bamboo charcoal deodorant, purification, because the main functional groups of bamboo charcoal hydrogen bond (CH), double carbon bond (C = C), a small part of the hydroxyl and oxygen (OH), can absorb sulfide, Formaldehyde, benzene, phenol or chloroform and other chemicals , because of its porous nature, so it has better adsorption, can be used to absorb and decompose indoor paint volatile gas, chemical synthesis . With its porous nature, bamboo charcoal can also be used in water purification applications. After bamboo charcoal filtered tap water, PH value increased from pH7 to pH8-8.5 weak alkaline . In the study of Japan, it was found that putting bamboo charcoal and bamboo shoot together can inhibit the production of ethylene gas and achieve the effect of preserving bamboo shoots. Bamboo charcoal can also absorb the volatiles of rice and maintain the rice flavor . Bamboo charcoal adsorption function is reversible, after heating, depressurization, etc., can be re-used . Japanese star University professor Yoshizawa Hideo porous characteristics of bamboo charcoal used in compost mature function, beneficial microorganisms can grow in bamboo charcoal pores, reducing composting time. The porous nature of bamboo charcoal can also be used in the dehumidification function of daily life .

The use of bamboo charcoal can absorb human heat and emit far-infrared properties, bamboo charcoal can be used in textiles , can have a thermal insulation effect, can also be used as a bathing material . Take the nano-bamboo charcoal yarn developed by ITRI as an example. Under the microscope, the bamboo charcoal yarn is cross-shaped and Y-shaped. The nano-sized charcoal powder is coated on the inside and outside of the fiber, After the hair thermal effect is better than feather coat. The Institute for Textile Research, in a study of changes in blood flow to bamboo charcoal, fleece and silk, found that those using bamboo charcoal had higher blood flow than those of the other two quilts and . Bamboo charcoal is also a low resistance type conductor, and at the same time, it is porous and in line with the characteristics of shielded electromagnetic wave materials . The bamboo charcoal made from high temperature has a high magnetic permeability and a high carbon content. However, Electromagnetic shielding effect is far better than the better conductivity of open fire charcoal .

Bamboo vinegar (also as bamboo vinegar) is a byproduct of bamboo charcoal production process, the firing process of the smoke condensate obtained crude bamboo vinegar, after standing, purifying, derived from distillation. PH value of pH2.3 ~ 4.0, with antibacterial effect, can be used for agricultural applications .

Bamboo charcoal application
Humidity adjustment.
Deodorant, air purification.
textile.
Soil improvement.
Building materials.
fuel.
Pest control
Water purification (water filter can be used as one of the material).
Food additives (Taiwan can be used legally, COA once encouraged bamboo charcoal food, but the Department of Health held a reservation, do not recommend a lot of food)

Effect / usage method
Since it is moisture conditioning – porous, it has the ability to adsorb moisture in the surrounding air and discharge it when dry. Baked at 800-1000 ° C is said to be effective. The effect is said to be semi-permanent.
Deodorization and air purification – It is said that physically adsorbs substances that form various odors in the pores. Because the pores are blocked, there is a time limit for adsorption capacity to be demonstrated. The substances adsorbed below, the most suitable baking temperature in parentheses are listed.
Ammonia (400-500 ° C) – It is contained in sweat, urine, etc.
Formaldehyde (900-1000 ° C) – Building materials (adhesives, paints, preservatives) and so on.
Benzene (900-1000 ° C) – Included in automobile exhaust gas, cigarette smoke and so on.
Toluene (900-1000 ° C) – Included in oil paint, ink, paint and others.
Indole (900-1000 ° C) – It is contained in bad breath, stool, fart etc.
Nonenal (900-1000 ° C) – Middle elderly odor, so-called aged odor.
Water quality purification • Mineral release – Adsorption of chlorine odor • chlorine by placing in tap water. In addition, potassium • magnesium etc contained in bamboo charcoal is released. It is used for drinking water, rice cooking and cooking.
Soil improvement – Improve water content, provide habitat for microorganisms. Often we reuse bamboo charcoal used for purification.
Electrical conductivity – Baked at high temperature gave higher conductivity (the one used at the time Edison first made a light bulb was a Japanese bamboo filament). Therefore, by measuring the electrical resistance with a tester, it is possible to estimate the baking temperature or make it a quality standard.

Bamboo charcoal industry
Japan’s charcoal products to charcoal mainstream, and charcoal industry, compared to less development of bamboo charcoal. In 2004, Japan produced 1,566 tons of bamboo charcoal, 658 kilograms of bamboo vinegar and 1,567 tons of bamboo charcoal for other uses. There are 886 charcoal producers, most of whom are 117 in Aichi Prefecture. Wakayama Prefecture, Japan has a charcoal prepared Charcoal Memorial Hall, introduced Japan wood, bamboo charcoal history, culture and a variety of applications.

China has 7.2 million hectares of bamboo forest. Until 1998, China’s bamboo charcoal development has been the scale of production, producers concentrated in Zhejiang, Fujian and other southern provinces. May 2000, the State Ministry of Science and Technology will “bamboo charcoal production technology and product development,” the most state-level Spark Program.

Taiwan’s bamboo forests account for 7.2% of the total forest area. Taiwan’s bamboo charcoal industry started to develop after the 921 earthquake. In 1999, a major earthquake hit central Taiwan and damaged local industries. In 2002, ITC’s Chen Wen-chi proposed “Bamboo Industry Transformation and Revitalization Plan” to the COAG and invited Japanese bamboo charcoal expert Toba Shu to visit Taiwan to start Taiwan Bamboo charcoal industry, the initial producers to have four, to 18 in 2007 . CAS established in 2003 certified bamboo charcoal products, is the world’s first bamboo charcoal certification standards, in line with CAS certified bamboo charcoal products, the basic conditions for raw materials from Taiwan in the non-polluting mountain elevation, more than four years of Mengzhong bamboo .

Bamboo charcoal Maintenance
When the adsorption capacity declines, if boiling and disinfecting is done regularly, substances adsorbed in the bamboo charcoal holes can be taken out and sometimes reused. However, substances that can be released by boiling are limited, and they have to be exposed to high temperatures to try to return them almost completely. When boiling and disinfecting for drinks and foods, you have to be careful not to use dishwasher detergent etc when washing bamboo charcoal. This is because the detergent is adsorbed in the bamboo charcoal holes.

Health Hazards
As the World Health Organization shows, as with any charcoal, long exposure to bamboo charcoal dust can cause mild coughing.

Ornamental use
Bamboo charcoal is also used as an interior. Those containing bamboo peculiar sections, those not broken and carbonized while being in a tubular form are used.

Popular culture
Burger King is using bamboo charcoal as an ingredient in its cheese for a new promotional burger in Japan called the Kuro Pearl and Kuro Ninja burgers.