The effect of basic catalyst concentration on tobacco oil transesterification (Voor-Oogst) using ultra-sonic wave and its potential as renewable energy

Synthesis of methyl ester from tobacco oil (Voor-Oogst) with potassium hydroxide (KOH) catalyst using ultrasonic waves and its potential test as biodiesel had been done. The tobacco seeds were obtained from Probolinggo, East Java, Indonesia. The stages in this study were: 1. Isolation of tobacco seed oil using n-hexane as a solvent; 2. Esterification process; 3. Transesterification with some variation in the KOH concentration as a catalyst; 4. Characterization of the synthesized methyl ester; and 5. Identification of the synthesized methyl ester components by GC-MS. The results showed that the synthesis of methyl esters through the transesterification method using three KOH concentration variation 0.8%, 1% and 2% w/w and ultra-sonic waves produced biodiesel with yields of 77.45%, 84.55%, and 80.72% respectively. According to SNI criteria of biodiesel, methyl esters from tobacco oil met the biodiesel standard with the viscosity of 4.44 cSt, density of 0.865 g/mL, refractive index of 1.45, acid number of 0.56 mg/g. The main constituent of methyl ester of the biodiesel were methyl palmitate, linoleic, oleic and stearic with the percentage of 18.72%; 30.76%; 27.26% and 9.35%, respectively.