Factors Affecting the Quality of Biodiesel from Palm Fatty Acid Distillate at Palm Oil Refining Plant

A study on factors affecting biodiesel quality of agricultural by-products, namely palm oil derived using palm fatty acid distillate (PFAD), collected from the Oleen Palm Oil industrial refining plant. This PFAD showed free fatty acid content and a saponification value of 88.4 % and 204 mg KOH/g, respectively. An acid catalyst was successfully used to produce biodiesel in the esterification reaction, and a 97.11% conversion to biodiesel based on the European Standard EN 14214:2003 was achieved under the conditions (PFAD to methanol molar ratio 1:3.71 with 1.834 % H2SO4 catalyzed at 121 °C for 15 minutes). Overall, this novel process achieved highly enhanced FAME (95.82% to 97.31%) with a significantly increased reaction time (10 to 30 minutes) and catalyst requirements (1.834 % H2SO4).

Conversion of Waste Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET) Polymer into Activated Carbon and Its Feasibility to Produce Green Fuel

In this study, a novel idea was proposed to convert the polyethylene terephthalate (PET) waste drinking-water bottles into activated carbon (AC) to use for waste cooking oil (WCO) and palm fatty acid distillate (PFAD) feasibility to convert into esters. The acidic and basic char were prepared by using the waste PET bottles. The physiochemical properties were determined by employing various analytical techniques, such as field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR), Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) and temperature-programmed desorption – ammonia/carbon dioxide (TPD-NH3/CO2). The prepared PET H3PO4 and PET KOH showed the higher surface area, thus illustrating that the surface of both materials has enough space for impregnation of foreign precursors. The TPD-NH3 and TPD-CO2 results depicted that PET H3PO4 is found to have higher acidity, i.e., 18.17 mmolg−1, due to the attachment of phosponyl groups to it during pretreatment, whereas, in the case of PET KOH, the basicity increases to 13.49 mmolg−1. The conversion results show that prepared materials can be used as a support for an acidic and basic catalyst for the conversion of WCO and PFAD into green fuel.

Bioreactor Rhamnolipid Production Using Palm Oil Agricultural Refinery By-Products

Palm fatty acid distillate (PFAD) and fatty acid methyl ester (FAME) are used by P. aeruginosa PAO1 to produce rhamnolipid biosurfactant. The process of fermentation producing of biosurfactant was structured in a 2 L bioreactor using 2% of PFAD and FAME as carbon sources in minimal medium and with a nitrogen concentration of 1 g L−1. Mass spectrometry results show the crude biosurfactant produced was predominantly monorhamnolipid (Rha-C10-C10) and dirhamnolipid (Rha-Rha-C10-C10) at 503 and 649 m/z value for both substrates. Maximum production of crude rhamnolipid for PFAD was 1.06 g L−1 whereas for FAME it was 2.1 g L−1, with a reduction in surface tension of Tris-HCl pH 8.0 solution to 28 mN m−1 and a critical micelle concentration (CMC) of 26 mg L−1 measured for both products. Furthermore, the 24 h emulsification indexes in kerosene, hexadecane, sunflower oil, and rapeseed oil using 1 g L−1 of crude rhamnolipid were in the range 20–50%. Consequently, PFAD and FAME, by-products from the agricultural refining of palm oil, may result in a product that has a higher added-value, rhamnolipid biosurfactant, in the process of integrated biorefinery.

Low-rank coal and poly fatty acid distillate characterization as a preparation of coal upgrading palm oil technology

The utilization of low-rank coal is restricted by such factors as high moisture content, low heating value, high propensity to low-temperature oxidation, spontaneous combustion, etc. Some coal upgrading technologies to reduce the moisture content have been developed, one of them is coal upgrading palm oil technology using palm fatty acid distillate as an additive to keep the stability of moisture content in the coal after the process. To study the possibility of the upgrading technology application in Indonesia, some studies have been conducted. The study covered coal characterization such as proximate, ultimate and calorific value, palm fatty acid distillate for stabilization of upgraded low-rank coal and coal upgrading by coal upgrading palm oil technology in laboratory scale. By using 7 Indonesian low-rank coals and 4 palm fatty acid distillates, it is confirmed that the coal upgrading palm oil technology is effective to reduce the moisture content and increase the calorific value of low rank coal.