Adsorption Of Carotenoid From Palm Oil Methyl Ester By Using Attapulgite And Synthetic Silica Magnesium As Adsorbent

Abstract

Attapulgite and synthetic silica magnesium are used as adsorbents to purify the palm oil methyl ester from the impurities such as carotenoid, catalyst residue, and free fatty acid. Temperature, adsorbent ratio and reaction time were chosen as factors. The results of the research indicate that attapulgite were more effective to absorb the carotenoid than synthetic silica magnesium. The dominant adsorption was the physical adsorption, where siloxan group adsorbent interacted with the seventh carbon atom from carotenoid molecules. The optimum adsorption condition was determined with respond surface method. The quadratic equation was Y = 22.8183 + 1.8503X1 + 2.0206X2- 1.167 X1 2- 0.7006X1X2 + 0.2302X2 2. The best adsorption was 21.95% with the factors, reaction temperature of 94.5 °C, adsorbent ratio of 2.09 and reaction time of 60 minutes.