RnD-Africa: Three KNUST students Create Smokeless Charcoal

Did you know that smokeless charcoal
exists in Ghana and even in Africa?

BidiGreen Ghana Limited,
a company located in Kumasi

is doing amazing
with its extraordinary charcoal

that presents extra and amazing features.

This is what we bring you
on RnD-Africa on AAU TV.

Stay tuned, we’ll bring you more.

[Music]

BidiGreen Ghana Limited
is a renewable energy company

that focuses on producing charcoal
from crop waste

mostly coconut husk
and pumpkin nut shells

but we also rely
on a variety of raw materials

available based on demand.

Now BidiGreen burns three times longer.

It is smokeless

and an efficient source of energy
for cooking.

Firewood has for so long been

a major source of energy
for domestic purposes.

Along the line, innovative minds realized

that a better substitute could be made
out of firewood just by burning it

and that is how
charcoal is traditionally made.

The first criterion for production
is to have ultra-dry raw materials

with a moisture content of about 0 to 15%,
to make production efficient.

It takes about 6 hours
to fully carbonize all the crop waste.

What really makes BidiGreen innovative

is the smokeless feature of the charcoal.

Cooks all over the world have been exposed

to much more advanced means of cooking

such as a gas or an electric stove.

Although charcoal has been substituted
with better options

its relevance has not
entirely been relegated.

Till date,

a wide range of people
find major usefulness for charcoal

as it has been used by kebab sellers,

household cooks,

industrial cooks, amongst others.

BidiGreen is a climate-centered company

involved in the renewable energy sector

and our main aim is to provide

an alternative raw material
to producing charcoal

instead of using hardwood charcoal.

Hence all activities are centered around

pushing for a more
sustainable environment

with our waste-sourced charcoal.

Many users of charcoal tend to complain

about the excess ash that it produces,

its weight and high consumption,

its inability to be regulated,

and its hazardous effects.

It is in the midst of
these complaints by charcoal users

that comes an innovative solution
by BidiGreen Ghana Limited,

a group of three students

from the Kwame Nkrumah University
of Science and Technology.

These innovative minds came together

to produce charcoal

that is 3 times stronger

than the usual charcoal in the market.

It has a smokeless feature,

it is molded to few specific purposes

among other innovative features.

We're now at the site where
BidiGreen Ghana Limited

produces its extraordinary charcoal.

This is where it all began.
We’ll take you through the process

but before that I here with me
the cofounder of BidiGreen Ghana Limited

and I’ll have him introduce himself.

I’m Emmanuel Obeng Frimpong.

I’m in charge of production
at BidiGreen Ghana Limited.

It’s nice meeting you.

I can see you guys are doing
a great job here.

I’m actually very impressed.

Quickly take us through the process of

converting these coconut husks

and other raw materials

to make the activator charcoal.

As you can see
there's the raw material - coconut husks.

You also have pumpkin nut shells

and corncobs.

These are the various raw materials
we use here.

So, we fix our source
and then we dry them.

After drying we process it
in the carbonizer

where we carbonize it

under controlled conditions
and high temperature

to achieve a carbonized product,

to obtain a char.

It takes about 5 to 8 hours
to carbonize it.

After that we take it
through the milling process,

addition of our binder, and mixing...

We then mold it into various shapes
based on the customer’s specifications.

So do you combine
a specific quantity of coconut husks

with the other materials that you use?

That's actually our trade secret.

We do use a specific combination

of various raw materials.

We combine them in various proportions

in order to achieve
the customer’s specifications.

That's what makes our products
so exceptional

compared to products
that use just one raw material.

For some of the products, we use
a combination of various raw materials.

This is pumpkin nut shell.

We are currently sun-drying it.

These are not in fact dry,
so we're just sun-drying them.

We are waiting for it to dry.

We’ve already filled the carbonizer

with some of the pumpkin nut shell.

Once we are done with that, we refill,
then continue the process.

Basically that’s how it is.

That’s our carbonizer

and this is where we do
the carbonizing of the raw materials

after they've been sun-dried.

There are 3 chambers in the carbonizer.

We fill each of cylinders or chambers
with the raw materials.

We apply the heat through this section.

It’s an enclosed system

in order to prevent smoke from escaping

and causing other environmental hazards.

So it’s an enclosed system

that tries to
regulate the flow of the smoke,

in a very controlled manner.

Does that in any way
contribute to the fact

that once your charcoal is ready
it doesn’t produce smoke?

Not necessarily.

During the carbonizing process,

we definitely try to get rid of

some compounds in the raw materials.

So, definitely, they would try to escape.

That’s another aspect of it.

Definitely, once carbonized,

the carbonized products

won't give off smoke.

Right now, our system is designed

to prevent extra pollution

while the raw materials
are being processed.

The smokeless nature of our products

results after the carbonizing process.

During the carbonizing process,

we ensure that there is no pollution.

After that,
the products turned out by us

are smokeless and harmless.

I can see that there are
a variety of charcoals

and I think they come in different shapes.

Do you have any specific reason
for making your charcoals that way?

Over the years,
we’ve modified most of our products

into different shapes,
basically based on customer demands.

Some come with customer specifications.

Moreover, the shape enhances their quality
in terms of burning.

As you can see, this one has a hole in it.

What the hole basically does is
allow for fast drying

because there’s enough
air circulation and heat penetration.

Also, in terms of burning,

it enhances its burning

because the hole allows air penetration.

That’s the reason for this design.

Now these are pellet sized...

These don’t look as heavy as those...

Yes, because they're smaller in size
and these are larger.

This is a stick form.

We use a different machinery for this one

as compared to that one.

This one is mostly for the barbecue,

mostly for slow heating,

for grilling

and for roasting etc.

That's what we use these for...

for large cooking basically.

This one is quite heavy
and durable as well.

Placing a heavy load on it
wouldn’t break it

as compared to this smaller-sized one.

That’s basically the difference.

As this one has enhanced air circulation
for continuous heat,

and is also very durable
and doesn't break easily

it is used for large cooking

in restaurants,

in chop bars,

in homes.

This one is basically for home grilling.

People have had the chance
to use quite a number of charcoals

and I don’t think
I’ve come across any charcoal

that is as heavy as the ones I see here.

Why is it like that?

As I said earlier,
it’s not just about one product.

You don’t just have one product in here.

It’s a combination
of different raw materials

and that also enhances its heaviness.

I’ve realized that pumpkin nut is heavier

compared to coconut shells,

rice husks,
and corncobs -

the other raw materials we use.

A combination of these

brings about the heaviness.

Basically, that defines
the differences in the weights.

You’ve mentioned
quite a number of features

but does your charcoal present

any other additional features

that the ones in the market don't?

As you just said
it’s very heavy and durable.

I should tell you that
it takes very long time to fully burn

and what's amazing is
that even after burning,

once you’ve exhausted the entire thing,

you could also use the ash

for warming your foodstuff.

Whether you are warming water

or you want to heat your food,

the ash in itself is good for warming it.

So, it’s a whole new product on its own.

It lasts longer,

it is smokeless in nature,

and it is durable.

It also has high heat intensity
because of its high calorific value.

It has a very heat intensity
compared to the local meat charcoal.

On account of its durability,

it is also very cost-effective

in the sense that it burns

2 or 3 times longer.
than traditional charcoal.

Where you'd use 4 bags
of traditional charcoal

you'd need only one and a half sacs
of our charcoal.

So in terms of cost-effectiveness

it's very cost-effective.

The BidiGreen team

provides green means of using charcoal

with long lasting features.

This is where we end this episode
of RnD-Africa on AAU TV

with BidiGreen located
in the Asanti region of Ghana

and I hope you had a great show.

Follow AAU TV for more content.

My name is Maame Ekua Otuakoa Nyame.