Biodiesel Production from Bintaro (Cerbera Manghas L) Seeds with Potassium Hydroxide as Catalyst

Abstract

Biodiesel is methyl or ethyl esters which is an alternative fuel for diesel engines that is produced by chemical reaction of vegetable oil or animal fat with alcohol such as methanol. The reaction requires a catalyst that is usually a strong base, such as potassium hydroxide. The purpose of this research was to produced biodiesel from Bintaro seed with potassium hydroxide as catalyst that have quality based on Standard Biodiesel Quality (SNI 7182:2015). Degumming process is required to remove the gum and the other impurities of vegetable oil which is the raw material for biodiesel production by using weak acids, such as phosphoric acid and citric acid was studied in this research. The experiment used catalyst with concentration 0.6-1.2 % (v/v) of raw material and the result shows the highest yield of biodiesel at 0.6 %(v/v) was 87.6 %. The characterization of methyl ester from bintaro seeds has the value that fulfilled the recommendation of biodiesel standards.