Pemanfaatan Zeolit Alam dan Sintetik untuk Pemurnian Etanol

Abstract

Purification of ethanol synthesized from biomass experiences a problem due to the azeotropic properties that arise when alcohol mixed with water. One method of purification that can be done is adsorption using various types of adsorbents, and one of them is zeolite. Zeolite with the adsorbent properties supports the ethanol purity up to >99,95 wt%. This study aims to develop natural zeolite and synthetic zeolite for the ethanol purification by using adsorptive separation method. Based on data of X-Ray Diffraction (XRD) and Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM), synthetic zeolites produced in this study are a synthetic zeolite type A. The best synthetic zeolite type A was obtained on the use of 1.5 N NaOH alkaline. All the synthetic zeolites produced in this study managed to increase the purity of ethanol through the adsorption of water molecules which act as impurities in the ethanol-water mixture. Ethanol purification at low water content is more effectively carried out by using clinoptilolite zeolite. While at the high water content, ethanol purification is better done by using the synthetic zeolite type A.