The comparison of cathodic and anodic plasma electrolysis performance in the synthesis of biodiesel

Abstract

Synthesis of biodiesel using plasma electrolysis is very promising. This study aims to understand the differences between cathodic and anodic plasma performance in synthesizing biodiesel from palm oil. The raw materials used were palm oil, methanol, and KOH catalyst. In the present study, the effects of the type of plasma and the depth of an electrode for biodiesel synthesis were evaluated. The results show that cathodic plasma gave the highest yield of 98.76% and the lowest specific energy consumption of 720 J/ml. Meanwhile, under the same conditions, the anodic plasma gave the highest yield of 96.09% and the lowest specific energy consumption of 910 J/ml. These results indicate that cathodic plasma is better than anodic plasma in synthesizing biodiesel because it gives higher yield and lowers specific energy consumption.