THE EFFECT OF 20% BIODIESEL BLENDS (B-20) APPLICATION ON O-RING MATERIAL OF LOCOMOTIVES FUEL FILTER

• Main Author: Kusaristianto, Chandra
• Format: Theses
• Language: Indonesia
• Online Access: https://digilib.itb.ac.id/gdl/view/47135
• Institution: Institut Teknologi Bandung

B-20 fuel is a renewable energy that was used by PT. Indonesian Railways as fuel for locomotives. One concern in the use of B-20 is the compatibility of elastomeric material in the fuel system. This thesis aims to understand the effect of B-20 fuel which will be compared to B-0 on the compatibility of o-ring material of locomotive fuel filter after three months (± 30,000 km). Observation and characterization of the o-ring was carried out to determine the type of o-ring material, hardness and its compatibility to B-20 fuel. Functional group analysis using fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and thermal analysis with a thermogravimetric analyzer (TGA) showed that the elastomer used was made from the type of elastomer group Nitrile Butadiene Rubber (NBR). This is indicated by the peaks at wave number near 2368 cm-1 showing the absorption of the nitrile functional group C?N which is a characteristic of NBR elastomer group and o-ring decomposition temperature of 458?C which belongs to NBR decomposition temperature range. O-ring elastomers using B-0 for three months (± 30,000 km) showed a decrease in hardness by 4%, while those using B-20 showed a decrease of 10%. Swelling test results show that the o-ring for B-0 has a swelling degree of 5.9% and for B-20 has a swelling degree of 7.27%.