Karakteristik Briket Arang Tandan Kosong Kelapa Sawit dengan Perekat Berbahan Tepung Sagu, Tepung Maizena, dan Natrium Silikat

Abstract

The increase in fossil fuel use increases every year along with the growing activities of society, resulting in a decrease in the availability of fossil fuels. Biomass renewable energy sources have the potential to replace dependence on fossil fuels. One promising source of biomass energy is charcoal briquettes. The production of charcoal briquettes of oil palm empty fruit bunches was carried out by carbonizing oil palm empty fruit bunches at 350 ℃ for 2 hours to produce charcoal with a yield of 32%. The palm empty fruit bunch charcoal powder was soaked with 0.3N NaOH solution for 24 hours. This study aims to evaluate the quality of charcoal briquettes made from oil palm empty fruit bunches using three types of binders (sago starch, cornstarch, and sodium silicate) and determine the best type of binder in producing briquettes in accordance with SNI No.01-6235-2000. The pretreated palm empty fruit bunch charcoal was mixed with sago gel, cornstarch gel, and sodium silicate and molded using a hot press. Each briquette was identified for its calorific value with a bomb calorimeter and analyzed for quality based on SNI No. 01-6235-2000 which includes calorific value, moisture content, ash content, volatile matter content, and fixed carbon content. The calorific value of briquettes with binder made from sago starch, cornstarch, and sodium silicate were 5522 cal/g, 5649 cal/g, and 2256 cal/g. The results showed that briquettes with binders made from cornstarch produced the highest calorific value with a moisture content of 5.286%, ash content of 8.617%, volatile matter content of 25.253%, and fixed carbon content of 60.845%. After being compared with SNI No. 01-6235-2000, briquettes with sago and cornstarch binders meet the standards of calorific value and moisture content but none of the briquettes meet the standards of ash content, volatile matter content, and fixed carbon content.

Keywords: Briquettes, Oil Palm Empty Fruit Bunch, Binder, Quality