What is the process for making charcoal briquettes from raw coal?
Charcoal is not made from coal: it is made from wood, which is roasted in a kiln to break down the sugars and starches and drive off the resulting water, leaving carbon and some metal oxides which will show up as ash. The charcoal is then combined with a bonding agent (I believe it is a form of wax) and pressed into briquettes. The bags in which these are packed are very fragile (easily degraded by sun and heat), so the charcoal should be placed in a more secure container as soon as convenient.
