Charcoal is one of the first materials used by humans in ancient times. Rock paintings in caves and primitive fireplaces in the form of handfuls of stones arranged in a circle are the evidence of the use of charcoal. Charcoal was mainly used to generate energy for cooking and heating. Today it still plays this important role and it is also used in metallurgy and other sectors of heavy industry. Currently, around the world, up to 17% of wood is processed into charcoal. Charcoal is used in two forms: lumps and briquettes. Charcoal briquettes are made by pressing charcoal particles (usually waste dust) with an appropriate binder, such as starch mixed with water. Charcoal briquettes used for BBQ must meet strict quality requirements, as their combustion products have direct contact with the prepared food. These criteria are included in the EN 1860-2 (2023) standard and concern, among others: moisture content, ash, Cfix and the accepted amount of inadmissible substances, which include i.a. fossil fuels, petroleum products, mineral substances, polymers, metal, glass, etc. The standard allows max. 1% of this type of contaminants. Practice shows that the problem of briquette contamination is greater than one might suspect. In many cases, impurities constitute majority of the briquette, which stops to be charcoal briquettes and becomes fossil coal char briquettes.
An outline of this problem was presented in a recently published paper Organic petrology in the service of public awareness: How safe are barbeque briquettes? by M. Georgaki, M. Wojtaszek-Kalaitzidi, K. Christanis, S. Kalaitzidis describing the phenomenon of contamination of briquettes available on the Greek market. The research was carried out in cooperation with ITPE and researchers from the University of Patras, Greece. Researchers detected primarily the presence of contaminants such as raw and processed fossil fuels (brown coal, peat), as well as minerals and plastics. The problem described in the paper does not only concern the Greek market. It is common throughout Europe as there is insufficient knowledge, research methods and legal regulations to ensure the purity of briquettes used for BBQ. Given the public health risks posed by grilling using inappropriate, low-quality fuel, effective and reliable quality control methods are urgently needed. Petrographic analysis of charcoal briquettes seems to be the most appropriate technique.
The Institute for years has been dealing with the pyrolysis of various materials, from fossil fuels through biomass to waste, so it has extensive knowledge of the physicochemical and morphological parameters of materials that may be a potentially harmful component of BBQ briquettes. The Institute is actively involved in research work on the creation of international classifications for assessing charcoal for various applications, including safe BBQ.
Prepared by Małgorzata Wojtaszek-Kalaitzidi
Department of Cokemaking Technologies