Publications

The development of the palm oil industry as a potential source of the Nation’s income has led to palm oil production growing rapidly. In the palm oil industry, there is excess in the form of a solid waste of palm fruit bunches (Tandan Kosong Kelapa Sawit or TKKS) that is already used as a raw material in the pulp and paper industry. TKKS will release a water in the form of black leachate that contains lignin up to 46 percent. One way to utilize leachate is modify it into Sodium Ligno Sulfonat (SLS). SLS is a relatively cheap and environmentally friendly surfactant. However, there is a drawback in SLS, that is the low ability to lower the Interfacial Tension (IFT). Therefore, the modified SLS formed in this study is expected to meet the criteria of the IFT values below 10-4. This paper will present the level of IFT of SLS modification through ricinoleic acid epoxidation by varying temperature, time and ratio of reactant composition (acetic acid and hydrogen peroxide) and also co-surfactant addition to reach the proper combination to get the lowest IFT level. In addition, core flooding test also will be presented. To get the results, the first step is saponification (a reaction between oil and sodium hydroxide to produce soap) and will be ended by water flooding after surfactant injection. From this paper, we achieved the result that SLS 1% surfactant solution can be used for Enhance Oil Recovery (EOR). By using EOR, the oil recovery from the reservoir rock reached 89.45%. The reached recovery could be achieved because modified SLS could reduce the value of the IFT, with the IFT value reaching 4,75 X 10-4 mN/m.