Utilization of water hyacinth-based biomass as a potential heterogenous catalyst for biodiesel production
Firda Tirta Yani (a), Komala Pontas (b), Ridha Ulhaqi (b), Winda Putri Pratiwi (b), Husni Husin (b*)
(a) Graduate School of Chemical Engineering, Universitas Syiah Kuala, Banda Aceh, Indonesia, 23111
(b) Department of Chemical Engineering, Universitas Syiah Kuala, Banda Aceh, Indonesia, 23111
*husni_husin[at]che.unsyiah.ac.id
Abstract
With the aim to reduce the negative impacts caused by the widespread of water hyacinth to the environment, this paper reports the utilization of water hyacinth as a source of biomass to fabricate a heterogeneous catalyst. The catalyst was prepared by calcinating the grounded hyacinth biomass at 600 celcius, and K2CO3 was then introduced as a co-catalyst through impregnation method. The properties of biodiesel were also evaluated in terms of viscosity, density, and acidic number. To better understand the impregnation effects, surface topography, particle size, and atom composition of water hyacinth catalyst without and with K2CO3 impregnation were analyzed. The performance of the synthesized catalyst was studied for transesterification reaction of palm oil into biodiesel. The reaction was carried out in a batch mode for 3 hours with stirring at 65 celcius. The molar ratio of methanol to oil of 12:1, and the catalyst loading was varied from 5 to 15 wt.%. The highest yield (94,47%) was obtained from the process using 15% of hyacinth-based catalyst which impregnated with 20% of K2CO3. The biodiesel produced was in the range of the SNI standard. The water hyacinth can be a promising heterogeneous catalyst for biodiesel production at industrial scale.
Keywords: Heterogenous catalyst, Water hyacinth, Impregnation, Biodiesel
Topic: Chemical Engineering