Synthesis of Biodiesel From Rubber Seed Oil with Acid and Base Activated Natural Zeolite Catalyst

Tiamina Nasution (Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Mathematic and Natural Science, Universitas Negeri Medan)
Akhir Mauludin Pulungan (Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Mathematic and Natural Science, Universitas Negeri Medan)
Yuli Asih Wiliranti (Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Mathematic and Natural Science, Universitas Negeri Medan)
Junifa Layla Sihombing (Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Mathematic and Natural Science, Universitas Negeri Medan)
Ahmad Nasir Pulungan (Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Mathematic and Natural Science, Universitas Negeri Medan)

Indonesian Journal of Chemical Science and Technology
Vol 2, No 2 (2019): July 2019

 In this study, biodiesel synthesis was carried out using Z-AH and Z-OH Zeolite catalysts to obtain a cheaper and environmentally friendly process. The catalysts were prepared from Sarulla Indonesian natural zeolite       (Z-AS) through a chemical activation process with certain HCl 3 M and NaOH 2 M, then calcined at 500°C with Nitrogen gas for 4 hours to obtain Z-AH ang Z-OH catalyst. The catalysts were characterized by FT-IR and XRD. The conversion of rubber seed oil into biodiesel was carried out at temperature of 30 oC, 60 oC and 90 oC. The ratio of methanol: rubber seed oil is 6: 1 (v / v) and the catalyst concentration used is 1% wt. The XRD and FTIR data show that Z-AS activation increases the crystallinity of zeolite and does not damage the zeolite skeletal structure.The Z-AH catalyst has a better catalytic activity than the Z-OH catalyst with the conversion value of the biodiesel product obtained at 69.79%.