DECARBOXYLATION (OXIDATIVE) SATURATED FATTY ACIDS TO BIOHYDROCARBONS AT LOW TEMPERATURES

• Main Author: Hendrik
• Format: Final Project
• Language: Indonesia
• Subjects: Teknik tertentu, alat, perlengkapan, materi
• Online Access: https://digilib.itb.ac.id/gdl/view/76302
• Institution: Institut Teknologi Bandung

Indonesia has been a net importer of crude oil plus petroleum fuels since 2004. With the gradually declining domestic crude oil production, whereas the need for fuel continues to increase along with the country's economic growth, the counytry’s import of petroleum fuels plus crude oil increases year after year. Therefore, for the sake of national energy security, Indonesia needs to be able to produce alternative fuels within the country. The study of the Gibbs free energy changes of C12 to C16 fatty acids decarboxylation reactions into bioalkanes or bioalkenes with one less carbon atoms than the original fatty acids showed that the reactions are thermodynamically feasible and could achieve complete conversion, even at room temperature. Further literature study showed that manganese(II) acetate have the potential to become catalyst for the autoxidative decarboxylation of these fatty acids. The objective of proposed research is to either prove or disprove the potential of the catalyst candidate. In this study, Mn(II) acetate was able to be oxidized to Mn(III) acetate which was characterized by a color change to brown and had formed two phases as the end product of oxidative decarboxylation which was thought to contain hydrocarbons in the upper phase. Decarboxylation enzymes used by some microbes in their metabolism involve fatty acids and their active sites consist of cofactors in the form of heme or Fe metal, thus indicating the potential of Fe as an alternative catalyst for fatty acid decarboxylation at low temperatures