Abstract

Yeslia Utubira^1,2, Karna Wijaya¹, Triyono¹ and Eko Sri Kunarti¹

DOI : http://dx.doi.org/10.13005/ojc/340339

The aim of this study is to produce biodiesel from palm oil using heterogeneous catalyst i.e. KOH/ZrO₂-Bentonite. The catalyst was prepared through KOH impregnation on ZrO₂- Bentonite with a ratio between KOH:ZrO₂-Bentonite was 20-30 wt%. Afterwards, it was followed by the heating process using microwave radiation 700 W for 10 min. Based on the result of the characterization using XRD, Gas Sorption Analyzer, FTIR and SEM-EDX, the best performance for the ratio of KOH:ZrO₂-Bentonite of the process was on 25 wt%. The catalytic activity test on palm oil transesterification resulted methyl ester as much as 81% on the reaction condition of 65 ^oC for three hours. In addition, the amount of catalyst-used was as much as 3% of the oil weight.  The result of ASTM test showed that the methyl ester product from palm oil fulfills the National Test Standard for Diesel Oil referring to SNI 04-7182-2006.

KOH; ZrO2-Bentonite; Palm oil; Transesterification

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