OPTIMASI PROSES PEMBUATAN BIODIESEL DARI MIKROALGA CHLORELLA SP

Abstract

Biodiesel is a fuel derived from vegetable oils or animal oils that have similar properties to fossil diesel. Biodiesel is renewable, is able to reduce vehicle emissions, able to lubricate and increase engine performance. Biodiesel is made from oil or fat methanolisis by able transesterification or esterification reactions with acid or base catalyst to produce methyl esters. One type of microalgae that are easy to obtain is Chlorella Sp. This spesies is easily cultivated and has oil content of 28-32 %, so it is suitable to be developed as one of the raw material for making biodiesel. The purposes of this research are to develop a microalgae (Chlorella sp) as an alternative raw material for making biodiesel, and then to determine out the process of making biodiesel from microalgae. Furthermore, is also past of study the optimal operating conditions to produce biodiesel from microalgae. To obtain these goals in this research will use the transesterification catalyzed by KOH and the temperature of 62 o C. Variables to be studied include the amount of catalyst, stirring speed, the amount required methanol. The results obtained showed equivalent yield of 31%. The most influential variables in the manufacture of biodiesel is the interaction between the addition of the volume of methanol with stirring speed.