Download PDFOpen PDF in browserColour reduction of biodiesel from crude palm oil by using activated carbon prepared from chilli stem10 pages•Published: May 14, 2020AbstractThis present work aims to reduce the color of biodiesel from crude palm oil through the application of activated carbon prepared from chili stem waste. Chilli stem was converted into activated carbon using 30 wt% KOH at a ratio of 1:2 for 1 h, followed by carbonization at 500 oC under an N2 atmosphere for a further hour. Physico-chemical characteristics of the raw material and activated carbon were analyzed including thermogravimetric analysis, proximate analysis, and porosities. The results demonstrated that the activated carbon was a porous material with a highly mesoporous structure (84.5%). The surface area of activated carbon was 10.6 m2/g and it exhibited an average pore diameter of 27.25 nm which was suitable for the removal of large highly colored molecules. Batch adsorption experiments were performed to investigate the reduction in color of the biodiesel. Ratios of activated carbon to biodiesel of 0.002 and 0.1 w/v were used in the study. For comparison, the adsorption was also tested against a commercial activated carbon with a surface area of 1,130 m2/g, but lower average pore size of 3.72 nm. The chili stem activated carbon can reduce color by approximately 15% within 24 h and the maximum color reduction was 95% after 96 h for both activated carbon to biodiesel ratios. The color of biodiesel changes from dark red to yellow and eventually resulted in a pale yellow color with longer adsorption times and was deemed more attractive for use. Moreover, commercial activated carbon with its small pore size could not reduce the color, with a maximum reduction of only 3%.Keyphrases: activated carbon, biodiesel, chilli stem, color reduction, palm oil In: Tich Thien Truong, Trung Nghia Tran, Quoc Khai Le and Thanh Nha Nguyen (editors). Proceedings of International Symposium on Applied Science 2019, vol 3, pages 26-35.
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