PENGARUH ABU PELEPAH PISANG SEBAGAI KATALISATOR BASA PADAT TERHADAP ANGKA ASAM PRODUK BIODIESEL

The effect of ash from pseudo stem of banana as base solid catalyst on free fatty acid content in biodiesel product from crude rice bran oil was investigated. The base solid-catalyzed transesterification for synthesis of biodiesel from crude rice bran oil was carried out in a laboratory scale reactor. The reaction temperature and stirring speed were maintained constant at 60oC and 400 rpm for 30, 60 and 90 minutes. Molar ratio of metanol to crude rice bran oil was 6:1 and the concentration of catalyst was 1% , 2% and 3% based weight of oil. The results showed that the addition of concentration of solid base catalyst brought positive trend on free fatty acid content in biodiesel, which expressed by the declining of the acid value. The smallest acid value was 76.1885 mg KOH/gram at 3% w/w catalyst for 90 minutes of reaction time.