Rapid coconut shell charcoal briquette drying completion determinant using plate electrodes with electrolyte

Drying completion determinant is critical in coconut charcoal briquette production due to both cost and quality concerns. To address this, research was conducted to determine the drying level of briquettes using resistivity measurements with plate electrodes and electrolytes. The study aimed at finding the possibility of applying combination of plate electrodes and electrolytes for rapid determination of stopping the drying process in coconut shell charcoal briquette production. In this study, two distinct methods were performed: the direct approach and the indirect approach. On one hand, the direct method applied Ohm’s Law to current and voltage data. On the other hand, the indirect method utilized a voltage divider approach to calculate resistivity. Both methods were conducted to test the cube-shaped briquettes (2.5 cm per side) with moisture content (MC) levels ranging from 4% to 16%. The direct method provided results close to rod electrodes. Meanwhile, the indirect approach provided very precise results with deviation standard less than 1.5%. The resistivity of the threshold of market acceptable briquette was above 10 kohm.m for moisture content less than 5%. These findings indicate a clear distinction between wet and dry briquettes, demonstrating the possibility of applying the instrumentation of a fast stop drying determinant. The indirect method can reduce decision time and fuel cost by 5%.