/01Stream one
Nut shells
Walnut and almond shells give a dense, low-ash carbon with high capacity. They feed the EC-310 and EC-270G grades.
- Walnut
- Almond
Five steps from shell to anode.
Every step runs on one site in Hollister, so each lot can be traced from the orchard to the drum.
The process
Shells arrive from hullers and processors in the Central Valley and South County. They are sorted, washed, dried and carbonised in nitrogen, then milled, classified and qualified in our own cells. Nothing is added: no binder, no pitch, no chemical activation.
Two feedstock streams
Nut shells and fruit pits, kept apart
Each stream carbonises differently. Running them as separate campaigns keeps every grade’s structure, and every lot’s data, consistent.
/02Stream two
Fruit pits
Apricot, peach and cherry pits give a finer pore structure suited to fast charging. They feed the EC-290F grade.
- Apricot
- Peach
- Cherry
The line
One continuous line, about 140 metres long
From the receiving pit to the drum filler, every machine on the line reports to one control room, and every lot carries one record.
Closing the loop
Nothing leaves the site as waste
The kiln’s own off-gas heats the next batch, the mineral ash goes back to the orchards, and the wash water runs in a closed circuit.
/01
The kiln heats itself
Gas released while the shells carbonise is burned to hold the kiln at temperature once the line is running.
/02
Ash returns to the orchards
The small mineral residue, rich in potassium, goes back to growers as a soil amendment.
/03
Wash water is reused
Water from the washers is settled, filtered and sent round again; only what evaporates is replaced.