PENGARUH KONDISI OPERASI TERHADAP KONVERSI LIMBAH TANDAN KOSONG KELAPA SAWIT (TKKS) PADA PROSES HIDROTERMAL - R Sarwono; A S Putra; Y Sudiyani (Research Center for Chemistry - LIPI, 2014)
Selulosa merupakan polimer yang dihasilkan oleh makhluk hidup terutama tumbuh-tumbuhan dengan jumlah yang sangat besar, dan sebagian besar menjadi limbah, seperti limbah pertanian, kehutanan dan sampah kota.Limbah tersebut selama ini belum termanfaatkan dengan baik. Biasanya dipakai sebagai bahan bakar dengan nilai kalor yang rendah. Penguraian limbah TKKS akan didapatkan bermacam-macam zat kimia yang mempunyai nilai lebih seperti glukosa, asam levulinat, erithosa dan bahan bakar cair dan gas. Proses hidrotermal mampu menguraikan limbah TKKSmenjadi molekul kecil sebagai bahan bakar cair dan gas. Hidrotermal menggunakan media air yang berfungsi sebagaipelarut dan reaktan. Peruraian limbah TKKS dipengaruhi oleh kondisi operasi (tekanan, temperatur), jenis katalis, waktu reaksi, pengadukan dan rasio air dan padatan.Reaksi yang terjadi pada proses hidrotermal meliputi reaksi liquefaction, hydrolisis, dehydration, decarboxylation, condensation, aromatization dan polimerization. Hasil peruraian TKKS berupa padatanbiochar, zat terlarut dalam air, dan gas. Umpan TKKS 1,8% memberi konversi sekitar 63%, sedangkan pada konsentrasi katalis Na2CO3 0,5% memberi konversi yang cukup tinggi sekitar 75%, pada temperatur operasi 400 oC memberi konversi sekitar 73%, pada waktu reaksi 3 jam memberi konversi sekitar 70%, sedangkan tekanan awal gas N2 tidak banyak berpengaruh terhadap konversi TKKS.Kata kunci: TKKS, peruraian, konversi, hidrotermal, bahan terlarut air, gas.Cellulose is a polimer that produced in the living thing mainly from plantation with huge in amount, and also the majority from which is left as waste such as agricultural, forestry, food industries and municipal solid waste. Those wastes were not utilized properly yet, commonly used as a fuel with lower calorific value. Degradation of empty fruit bunches (EFB) of palm oil yielded many kind of valuable chemicals such as glucose, levulinic acid,erythrose, and liquid fuel and gas. EFB is lignocellulosic waste that can be degraded into smaller molecule that can be used as liquid and gas fuel fraction. Hidrothermal used water as a medium that used as solvent and reactant. EFB degradation is influenced by operation condition such as temperature, pressure, catalyst, reaction time, stirring, and ratio of liquid and solid. The hydrothermal process reaction involved such as liquefaction, hydrolysis, dehydration,decarboxylation, condensation, aromatization, and polymerization. EFB degradation resulted solid as biochar, organic water soluble and gas. EFB concentration of 1.8% resulted 63% conversion, catalyst Na2CO3 0.5% resulted 75%, temperature operation of 400 oC gave 73% conversion, reaction time 3 hours gave 70% conversion, initial pressure of N2 gas was not significantly influence to the EFB conversion.Key word: EFB, degradation, conversion, hydrothermal, water soluble, gas