Abstract
Energy demand is currently increasing in line with technological and economic developments, but not accompanied by an increase in energy reserves. So we need another alternative energy that can be renewed, namely biodiesel. Biodiesel has been produced commercially through the transesterification from vegetable oil with methanol using catalyst that produces esters and glycerol. The formation of glycerol which is by-product can reduce its economic value, so it needs to be done the separation process. Therefore, a new route is proposed in this study, namely the interesterification reaction (non-alcoholic route) using methyl acetate as an alkyl group supplier and potassium methoxide catalyst. The superiority of the product produced by the interesterification reaction is biodiesel with triacetin byproducts which have an economical value and can be added to biodiesel formulations because of their solubility so that no side product separation process is needed. To increase the yield of biodiesel and the interesterification rate, the ultrasound method was used in this study. To optimize the factors that affect the interesterification reaction (molar ratio of methyl acetate to oil, catalyst concentration, temperature, and interesterification time), the Box-Behnken design (BBD) is used. Optimal operating conditions to produce the yields of biodiesel of 98.64 % are at molar ratio of methyl acetate to palm oil of 18.74, catalyst concentration of 1.24 %, temperature of 57.84 °C, and interesterification time of 12.69 minutes.
Highlights
In today's modern era, energy is the most basic requirement of all human activities, especially in the field of technology and economy, both as raw material, fuel, and as an export commodity
Optimal operating conditions to produce the yields of biodiesel of 98.64 % are at molar ratio of methyl acetate to palm oil of 18.74, catalyst concentration of 1.24 %, temperature of 57.84 °C, and interesterification time of 12.69 minutes
3 Results and discussion 3.1 Checking of the fitted models and statistical analysis In optimization for the manufacture of biodiesel using the ultrasound-assisted interesterification (UAI) method with Response Surface Methodology, four factors are used, namely the molar ratio of methyl acetate to oil (A), catalyst concentration (B), temperature (C), and interesterification time (D). This optimization uses the Box-Behnken Design (BBD) repeating the center point 5 times and was found to be sufficient to calculate the coefficient of the second-order polynomial regression model for four variables
Summary
In today's modern era, energy is the most basic requirement of all human activities, especially in the field of technology and economy, both as raw material, fuel, and as an export commodity. Where the energy needs are still largely met by non-renewable energy. Non-renewable energy contributes 86 % of total global energy [1]. The trend of reducing non-renewable energy has become increasingly visible. This results in the need for the latest innovations that will replace the use of non-renewable energy. One of its innovations is the manufacture of biodiesel, which will replace diesel fuel. Some of the advantages of biodiesel include a renewable energy source that guarantees the continuity of production, is nontoxic, biodegradable, has a high cetane number and low flash point, can be an environmentally friendly alternative fuel, and does not require engine modification [2, 3]
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