Biodiesel is an alternative diesel fuel that is produced from vegetable oils and animal fats. Generally, it is formed by transesterification reaction of triglycerides in the vegetable oil or animal fat with an alcohol. In this work, esterification reaction was carried out using oleic acid, methanol and sulphuric acid as a catalyst by reactive distillation method. In order to determine the best conditions for biodiesel production by reactive distillation, the experiments were carried out at different temperature (100 oC, 120 oC, 150 oC and 180 oC) using methanol/oleic acid molar ratios (1:1, 5:1, 6:1, 7:1, 8:1), catalyst/ oleic acid molar ratios (0.5%wt, 1%wt, 1.5%wt and 2%wt) and reaction times (15, 30, 45, 60, 75 and 90 minutes). Results at temperature 180 oC, methanol/ oleic acid molar ratio of 8:1, amount of catalyst 1% for 90 minute reaction time gives the highest conversion of oleic acid above 0.9571. Biodiesel product from oleic acid was analysed by ASTM (American Standard for Testing Material). The results show that the biodiesel produced has the quality required to be a diesel substitute. ©2010 BCREC UNDIP. All rights reserved

(Received: 1st January 2010, Revised: 18th March 2010; Accepted: 18th March 2010)

[How to Cite: K. Kusmiyati, A. Sugiharto. (2010). Production of Biodiesel from Oleic Acid and Methanol by Reactive Distillation. Bulletin of Chemical Reaction Engineering and Catalysis, 5(1): 1-6. doi:10.9767/bcrec.5.1.37.1-6]

[How to Link/DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.9767/bcrec.5.1.37.1-6 ]

Electrocoagulation process is expected to be widely applied not only in wastewater treatment but also in water purification. In this work, electrocoagulation process was used for clean water treatment. The effectivity of aluminum electrode in the electrocoagulation process has been investigated. The water samples used in the experimentation were obtained from the Bengawan Solo river. The samples were characterized to have a normal pH, high turbidity of 388,33 NTU, high organic matter shown from the KMnO4 value of 52,46 mg/L, alkalinity value 79,16 mg CaCO3/L, hardness value of 180 mg CaCO3/L and iron content of 4,59 mg/L. A set of experiments have been carried out to investigate the percentage of removal of water parameters using electrocoagulation processes compared to those with chemical coagulation processes. The chemical process was carried out with a jar test of alum dosage variation. In the electrocoagulation process 10 aluminum electrodes were used with an area of 100 cm2 at which all electrodes were mounted in series, with variations in time and current density. Jar test and electrocoagulation test result, both, show significant improvement of water parameters indicated by a high percentage of removal of turbidity, iron content and KMnO4 number. However, removal of hardness has not shown significant result, even in the electrocoagulation process of hard water.

Imports of gelatin in Indonesia have increased according to demand. Gelatin is a protein derivative from collagen fibers derived from bone extraction. Gelatin contains protein, water and minerals. Gelatin is used to thicken, concentrate, and stabilize fluids such as water, acetic acid, and alcohol. The raw material used in the study was tilapia bone due to the lack of utilization of tilapia bone waste treatment. The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of sulfuric acid concentration on gelatin yield and to apply gelatin as a thickener for pineapple syrup. The methods are degreasing, extraction, and application of pineapple syrup. Variations in the concentration of H2SO4 were 1%, 3%, 5%, and variations in immersion time were 10 hours, 24 hours, and 36 hours. The analysis carried out on tilapia bone gelatin consisted of yield, acidity (pH) and viscosity. The best yield was produced using 1% H2SO4 and 10 hours immersion, which was 13.77%. The largest pH was produced at 2.47 with the use of 5% H2SO4 and immersion for 24 hours, and the largest viscosity was produced at 7.66 cP with the use of 5% H2SO4 and immersion for 36 hours.

Renewable energy has attracted more attention recently. Biodiesel, one of the renewable energy, has been recognized as an interesting fuel that substituted diesel oil produced from petroleum. The use of biodiesel has two advantages: it can reduce the dependency of petroleum oil which leads to an increase oil prices and it can reduce the environmental pollutants (Al-Widyan and Al-Syoukh, 2002). Biodiesel is produced mostly from vegetable oil which is used edible oil such as palm oil, sunflower, soybean via transesetrification process using sodium hydroxide as a catalyst. However, the commercialization production of biodiesel from those vegetable oils still have

Kebutuhan sumber energi semakin meningkat seiring dengan meningkatnya konsumsi energi oleh masyarakat. Upaya dalam menemukan sumber energi terus dilakukan termasuk sumber energi baru terbarukan. Salah satu langkah yang banyak diteliti dan dikembangkan adalah biomassa. Briket merupakan bahan bakar alternatif dari pemanfaatan biomassa. Di Indonesia, limbah ampas tebu dan sekam padi mempunyai potensi yang cukup besar untuk dimanfaatkan sebagai energi terbarukan dalam bentuk briket. Manfaat pembuatan briket dapat mengurangi sampah yang menyebabkan pencemaran lingkungan. Penelitian inni bertujuan untuk mengetahui pengaruh metode pembakaran bahan baku terhadap kualitas briket yang dihasilkan sesuai dengan standar mutu briket. Parameter yang diuji yaitu kadar air, kadar abu, kadar zat terbang, kadar karbon, dan nilai kalor. Hasil yang didapat adalah briket sudah sesuai standar mutu untuk parameter kadar air dan nilai kalor. Sedangkan nilai kadar abu, kadar zat terbang, dan kadar karbon belum memenuhi stndar mutu. Briket terbaik yang menggunakan perbandingan massa ampas tebu dan sekam padi (3:2) gram dengan nilai kadar