Prarancangan Pabrik Pembuatan Asam Laurat dari Palm Kernel Oil (PKO) dengan Pre-Treatment Degumming dalam Proses Colgate-Emery Kapasitas 10.000 Ton/Tahun

Abstract

The demand for lauric acid in Indonesia, primarily as a fundamental raw material in the cosmetic, pharmaceutical, and soap-making industries, continues to escalate annually. The high volume of lauric acid imports presents a significant opportunity for domestic industrial development; thus, the establishment of a new plant is a strategic step to strengthen the national chemical industry structure and reduce dependency on foreign markets. Palm Kernel Oil (PKO) is a potential feedstock due to its high lauric acid content, reaching 45–55% of its total fatty acid composition. This plant design utilizes the Colgate-Emery hydrolysis process with a production capacity of 10,000 tons/year and an operational period of 330 days/year. The core processes involve feedstock purification through degumming, fat splitting (hydrolysis), fractional distillation for fatty acid separation, and crystallization to yield a high-purity final product. The plant is planned to be located in the Sei Mangkei Special Economic Zone (SEZ), Simalungun Regency, North Sumatra, occupying a land area of 23,735 m². The business entity is structured as a Limited Liability Company (Perseroan Terbatas) utilizing a line and staff organizational system, employing 190 personnel. The total capital investment required is IDR 817,476,337,288, with an annual production cost of IDR 737,259,119,696, annual sales revenue of IDR 1,020,797,742,952, and a net profit of IDR 220,327,623,262. Based on the feasibility analysis, the following economic indicators were obtained: a Profit Margin (PM) of 21.448%, a Break-Even Point (BEP) of 49.169%, a Return on Investment (ROI) of 26.78%, a Pay Out Time (POT) of 3.73 years, a Return on Network (RON) of 44.649%, and an Internal Rate of Return (IRR) of 21.237%. Based on these results, the plant design is declared feasible for establishment.