Biopelet Campuran Eceng Gondok (Eichhornia crassipes) dengan Kayu Lamtoro (Leucaena leucocephala).

Abstract

Biomassa adalah salah satu sumber energi alternatif yang berpotensi menjadi sumber energi masa depan karena bersifat terbarukan. Sumber energi biomassa dapat berasal dari biomassa hutan, limbah pertanian, limbah perkebunan, atau biomassa lainnya. Eceng gondok (Eichhornia crassipes) adalah jenis tumbuhan air yang memiliki pertumbuhan sangat cepat dan dianggap sebagai tumbuhan pengganggu ekosistem perairan, tetapi eceng gondok bermutu kurang baik sebagai bahan energi karena memiliki nilai kalor rendah. Peningkatan kerapatan energi dan nilai kalor biomassa dapat dilakukan melalui densifikasi dan fortifikasi biomassa berkalor tinggi. Penelitian bertujuan untuk membuat produk biopelet berbahan dasar eceng gondok yang dicampur dengan kayu lamtoro. Pengujian biopelet meliputi analisis kadar komponen kimia dan proksimat. Hasil penelitian menunjukan bahwa karakteristik biopelet campuran eceng gondok dengan kayu lamtoro bervariasi berdasarkan proporsi bahan. Penambahan kayu lamtoro pada biopelet eceng gondok meningkatkan secara signifikan kadar karbon terikat dan nilai kalor, walaupun begitu penambahan kayu lamtoro belum mampu menghasilkan biopelet eceng gondok yang memenuhi kriteria nilai kalor minimal 4000 kkal/kg.

Kata Kunci: biomassa, biopelet, eceng gondok, energi terbarukan, lamtoro

Biomass is one of the alternative energy sources that has the potential to become a future energy source because it is renewable. Biomass energy sources may be derived from forest biomass, agricultural waste, plantation waste, or the other biomass. Water hyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes) is a type of aquatic plant that has very fast growth and is considered a nuisance plant for aquatic ecosystems, but water hyacinth has a poor quality as an energy material because it has a low calorific value. Increasing the energy density and calorific value of biomass can be done through densification and fortification of high calorific biomass. The characterization includes analysis of chemical component and proximate content. The research aims to make biopellet products made from water hyacinth mixed with lamtoro wood. The results showed that the characteristics of biopellet made of water hyacinth and lamtoro wood mixture varied based on the proportion of ingredients. The addition of lamtoro wood to water hyacinth biopellets significantly increased the fixed carbon content and calorific value, although the addition of lamtoro wood has not been able to produce water hyacinth biopellets that meet the minimum calorific value criteria of 4000 kcal/kg.

Keywords: biomass, biopellets, water hyacinth, renewable energy, lamtoro