Conversion of Glycerol to Ethanol by Integrating Ultrasonic and Ni/ZSM-5 Catalyst

Devi Indrasari Mustopa Putri (Departemen Kimia, Fakultas Sains dan Teknologi, Universitas Airlangga, Mulyorejo, Surabaya, 60115, Indonesia)
Sumari Sumari (Departemen Kimia, Fakultas Matematika dan Ilmu Pengetahuan Alam, Universitas Negeri Malang, Jl. Semarang 5, Malang, 65145, Indonesia)
Handoko Darmokoesomo (Departemen Kimia, Fakultas Sains dan Teknologi, Universitas Airlangga, Mulyorejo, Surabaya, 60115, Indonesia)
Ganden Supriyanto (Departemen Kimia, Fakultas Sains dan Teknologi, Universitas Airlangga, Mulyorejo, Surabaya, 60115, Indonesia)
Nur Arief Nugroho (Jurusan Teknik Geologi, Fakultas Teknologi Mineral, Universitas Pembangunan Nasional “Veteran”, Yogyakarta, 55283, Indonesia)

Eksergi: Chemical Engineering Journal
Vol 20, No 1 (2023)

The increased production of biodiesel which is used as an alternative fuel has led to an increase in the by-product in the form of glycerol. This glycerol byproduct can be utilized by converting it into other compounds such as ethanol. The production of ethanol from glycerol requires a catalyst that can break down the molecular size of glycerol, one of which is zeolite. One type of zeolite that is good to use is ZSM-5, because this type of zeolite has a high degree of thermal stability, acid stability and selectivity. The catalytic properties of ZSM-5 can be improved by impregnating metals from the transition group, in this study using Ni (nickel). The results obtained that the catalyst Ni/ZSM-5 has a total acidity value of 0.920 mmol/g and has a specific surface area of 138.754 m2/g. The highest ethanol product was produced at 4 hours of sonication, which was 20.362%.