Calcium soap from Palm Fatty Acid Distillate (PFAD) for ruminant feed: The effect of CaO quality on reaction temperature

Indonesia is the largest palm oil producer in the world and contributes to about 58% of the world’s total palm oil production in 2018. Palm fatty acid distillate (PFAD) is a palm oil refining by-product that contains lots of free fatty acids. Previous research related to the production of calcium soap has successfully found the right stoichiometry and operating conditions at the laboratory and bench scale. This research examines the influence of CaO active concentration on the reaction temperature of calcium soap production on the pilot scale. First, molten PFAD, CaO solids, and water are feed into a CSTR. The mixture is discharged from the CSTR to the screw reactor at a certain temperature, which is then released to the belt conveyor. The experimental result shows that the rate of temperature increment of the mixture using CaO with an active concentration of 79% is greater than CaO of 72%. This may be caused by the different amounts of heat released during the reaction, viscous mixture properties which then influence the mass transfer process between the reaction components. The result also shows that there is a 14% - 19% difference between the calculated and measured temperature, which is predicted due to heat loss, particularly caused by water evaporation during the reaction.