Key Engineering Materials Vol. 849

Abstract: The synthesis of CaO/zeolite nanocomposite as a highly active and effective adsorbent for patchouli oil purification has been developed. This research aims to improve the quality of patchouli oil by synthesizing CaO/zeolite nanocomposites using a solid-state mixing method. The used mass ratios of zeolite:CaO were 0:100, 20:80, 40:60, 60:40, 80:20 and 100:0 (w/w), then nanocomposites with various zeolite-to-CaO ratios were then calcined at various temperature of 300°C, 400°C and 500°C. The zeolite, CaO and nanocomposites were characterized by using the Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR), X-ray fluorescence spectrometer (XRF) and surface area analyzer (SAA). The nanocomposites were then applied to patchouli oil and the assessment results of physical and chemical properties of patchouli oil were determined according to Indonesian National Standard (SNI) 06-2385-2006. After patchouli oil purification using ZECA nanocomposite, the acid number decreased from 5.42 to 0.39 mg KOH/g oil, the patchouli alcohol (PA) content increased from 33.08 to 34.27% and the Fe level decreased from 1.39 to 0.31 ppm.

Abstract: Esterification and transesterification processes for biodiesel production generate glycerol which is possible to be converted into triacetin. It is an actractive bioadditive for increasing octane number of fuel. The production of this bioadditive in a biodiesel plant also increases the revenue as raw material comes from biodiesel process production as by-product.This study examines the effects of catalyst concentration and temperature on triacetin production using glycerol from esterification process and acetic acid at volume ratio of 1:3 as raw materials. An activated charcoal as catalyst is activated with sulfuric acid at concentration of 2% and 3% (w/w). The esterification temperatures are varied at 90 and 100°C and the reaction time is set for 3 hours. The samples are taken frequently at certain interval times of 15, 30, and 60 minutes for chemical analysis using Gas Chromatography Mass Spectometry. It is observed that using 2% and 3% (w/w) of catalysts at 90°C and 60 minutes reaction time converts 41.037% and 57.441% of glycerol respectively.

Abstract: Limited reserves of conventional fossil fuels have led people to come up with alternative fuels. Biodiesel is one of the alternative fuels that mostly produced nowadays. Glycerol as byproduct of biodiesel production can be converted to acrolein trough dehydration reaction. Acrolein is an important intermediate for the production of chemicals product and also used for agricultures. Application of various catalyst in glycerol dehydration to acrolein has been reported. Zeolite is a micro-porous, alumino-silicate mineral that can be used as catalyst for this reaction. Geothermal solid waste contains silica that can be used as zeolite catalyst raw material. In this research, zeolite catalyst was synthesized from geothermal solid waste in hydrothermal reactor at 150°C for 8 hours. The catalyst product was characterized by EDX and showed that the zeolite catalyst was analcime type. BET characterization showed that this catalyst has mesoporous surface area. Catalyst application on glycerol dehydration was occurred in fixed-bed stainless steel reactor. This process produced liquid product and analysed by FT-IR. The FT-IR result showed that the liquid product contains acrolein. The variation amount of catalyst in dehydration process affect to the glycerol conversion. The increasing of catalyst amount enhanced glycerol conversion.