Open AccessThe Effect of K2O Concentration in K2O/Al2O3 Catalyst on Methyl Ester (Biodiesel) Synthesis from CPO Off Grade with Ultrasonic Wave
Author(s) -
Aman Santoso,
Anugrah Ricky Wijaya,
Chandra Fetty Purwaningtyas,
Dedek Sukarianingsih,
Rini Retnosari,
Sumari Sumari
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
iop conference series. materials science and engineering
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 1757-899X
pISSN - 1757-8981
DOI - 10.1088/1757-899x/833/1/012043
Subject(s) - transesterification , catalysis , biodiesel , biodiesel production , fatty acid methyl ester , yield (engineering) , acid value , viscosity , nuclear chemistry , chemistry , organic chemistry , materials science , composite material , biochemistry
Fatty acid methyl esters can be made through transesterification of vegetable oils with homogeneous or heterogeneous catalysts. Ultrasonic waves and the type of catalyst affect the transesterification reaction. The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of ultrasonic waves on the transesterification of CPO with the K 2 O/Al 2 O 3 catalyst. Research stages: CPO off grade characterization, activation and characterization of natural zeolite, preparation and characterization of K 2 O/Al 2 O 3 catalysts, and oil esterification. Transesterification of CPO with K 2 O/Al 2 O 3 catalyst (3% w/w) at various levels of K 2 O assisted by ultrasonic waves. The characterization of transesterification results includes density, viscosity, refractive index, and acid number. The use of ultrasonic waves reduces the transesterification reaction time from 120 to 35 minutes. The optimum conditions of methyl ester synthesis were achieved in the K 2 O/Al 2 O 3 catalyst with K 2 O levels of 35% w/w, with a yield of 88.06%. Characteristics of the synthesized methyl ester include density, viscosity, refractive index, and acid number respectively are 0.891 g/mol, 7.86 cSt, 1.454 and 0.465 which are in accordance with SNI biodiesel.