Mini solar water heating biodiesel plant by homogeneous catalyzing

Abstract

Biodiesel can be generated by the catalytic vegetable oil- transesterification at 45-60°C. The heat requirement for a reaction can be obtained from solar thermal energy. West Kalimantan is crossed by the Equator where the sun shines for 10-15 hours /day. Palm Oil Production reaches 2.2 million tons making biodiesel has great potential to be produced. Implementation from the ideas is mini plant technology with solar water heaters for biodiesel production. Solar water heaters as a source of thermal energy are used as heating fluid in reactor plant. This technology is simple, without the need for electrical energy, low operating costs and environmentally friendly. The purpose of this research is to produce biodiesel by using a homogeneous catalyst of 2% KOH in a mini biodiesel plant with solar water heaters. Solar heaters are designed flat which is capable of producing hot water at 60°C, consists of a heat collector and a water storage tank made of stainless steel and polystyrene as an insulator. Transesterification is carried out for 1 hour at 65°C using homogenous catalyst of 2% - KOH mass. The biodiesel yield obtained 83.42%, fulfills the requirements according to SNI in the Acid Number which is 0.42mg KOH/g and the Methyl Ester content is 99,07%.