Kemampuan Hydrochar dari Pelepah Kelapa Sawit Teraktivasi Asam Fosfat (H3PO4) sebagai Adsorben untuk Pemurnian Gliserol

Abstract

Crude glycerol is obtained as a by-product of the biodiesel production process in an impure state and contains many impurities, so it needs to be purified. Glycerol purification can be achieved by neutralization and adsorption processes using activated carbon. Palm fronds contain high levels of cellulose lignin and can be used as activated carbon. Hydrothermal carbonization is a rapid combustion method in which biomass and water are introduced under high temperature and pressure conditions. This study aims to evaluate the ability of hydrochar from phosphoric acid-activated palm fronds and to analyze the effect of temperature, time and water to biomass weight ratio on glycerol purification. The stages of this research consisted of experimental design, preparation of raw materials, hydrothermal carbonization process, determination of iodine absorbency, analysis of hydrochar products, characterization of hydrochar texture and surface, neutralization and adsorption procedures of crude glycerol, determination of glycerol content by titrimetry and using GC-MS equipment, analysis of glycerol purity and color analysis of glycerol. Hydrochar was prepared with process temperature variations of 160 oC, 180 oC, 200 oC and 220 oC, process time of 20, 40, 60 and 80 minutes and biomass: water ratio of 1:6, 1:8, 1:10 and 1:12. The adsorption process was carried out with adsorbent mass variation (m/v) of 1%, 2%, 3% and 4%. The results showed that the adsorbent variation at a process temperature of 220 oC for 80 minutes with a biomass: water ratio of 1:10 had the highest iodine number value of 980.68 mg/g. The highest glycerol content was 92.50% with 4% adsorbent mass variation. Color analysis of the best glycerol showed a yellow parameter value that decreased from 70 to 2 on the scale at 4% adsorbent mass variation.