Comparative Study on the Effect of Catalyst to The Yield of Biodiesel from Kemiri Sunan (Reutealis trisperma) Oil

Abstract

Biodiesel is an alternative fuel substitute for fossil fuel, which is produced from the trans-esterification and esterification process of vegetable oil and animal fats. One of the potential materials to be processed to biodiesel is kemiri sunan (Reutealis trisperma), due to its high oil content and inedible amount of toxic. Study based on literature review has been done to identify and analyze the effect of catalysts to the yield of biodiesel from kemiri sunan (Reutealis trisperma) oil. The acquired data on the catalyst used on the experimental trials was categorized as KOH with concentrations of 0.2%, 0.4%, 0.5%, 0.6%, 1.0%, 1.5% and 2.0% and NaOH with concentrations of 0.5%, 0.75%, 1.0%, 1.25%, 1.5% and 2.0%. Based on the data analysis, it was found that the biodiesel that meets the Indonesia National Standard (SNI) requirements was the biodiesel treated with 0.2% KOH and processed in two stages of trans-esterification. Further experimental studies on the multi stages trans-esterification and catalyst treatments are still needed to explore the potential of kemiri sunan for biodiesel production.