Produksi Biodiesel Berbahan Baku Crude Palm Oil Off Grade : Komparasi Temperatur Pengembanan Zeolite/KI

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Heterogeneous catalysts werw reaction accelerating agents that had different phases than the reactants from the beginning of the reaction to the end of the reaction. The used of heterogeneous catalysts gave easied method for separation stage of biodiesel products. Heterogeneous catalysts can be sourced from natural resources, such as zeolite. Natural zeolite was mined from Ujong Pancu, Aceh Besar which had physical characteristics in the form of chunks of bluish green colored rocks, which contain SiO4 and Al2O3 and other impurities. To isolated zeolite, several steps were needed, namely (1) size reduction to 80/100 mesh, (2) activation with HCl 4 N for 10 hours at 90 oC, (3) impregnated of KI at concentration 0.4 M, (4) Calcination. In the process of development, the
temperature factor greatly affects the number of active nuclei formed. In this research, variations in development temperature are 30 oC and 90 oC to find out the effect of increasing temperature on the characteristics of the catalyst produced. The morphological characteristics of zeolite/KI embraced indicate that the heating process has an effect on the size of the zeolite/KI catalyst particles.
The zeolite/KI catalyst of 90°C shows particle size of 3.07 μm-22.926 μm while the zeolite / KI of 30 oC is of particle size of 2,417 μm - 35,601 μm. The zeolite / KI catalyst tested for the synthesis of biodiesel using fatty acid methyl ester (FAME) derived from crude palm oil off grade using a transesterification reaction. From the results of gas chromatography analysis, it is known that zeolite/KI
impregnated at 90 oC gave the highgest selectivity to transesterification with the acquisition of methyl esters of 67.39%, while zeolite/KI (30 oC) gave the ester content of 38.88%.