Product Competitiveness of Upgrading Brown Coal (UBC) Process in Indonesia

The utilization of coal in Indonesia is in a running of improvement to become the biggest energy source. In 2025, 30% of total energy used is targeted as stated in Indonesian Government Regulation No. 79 of 2016. In Indonesia, the potential coal is mostly found in low and moderate calorific coal, it is classified as brown coal. Commonly, brown coal has high moisture content. Upgrading Brown Coal (UBC) process is a method for reducing the moisture content of brown coal by up to 80%. This study provides an overview of the UBC product competitiveness compared with brown coal. It will generate some technical recommendations on the current energy policies. Business as Usual (BAU) scenario and UBC product scenario were applied to show the difference in the amount of coal needed to generate electricity with the same capacity and the total of green house gas emission potential (GEP). The calculation was performed using the LEAP program (Long-range Energy Alternative Planning system). The use of UBC product was potentially reduce the feed consumption by 50% compared to usual brown coal. Furthermore, the GEP calculated between the two scenarios was 1.141 billion kg CO2-eq/year as net saving. UBC process can be developed to improve the quality of brown coal, so that the UBC product will be much more competitive

Acid Mine Drainage Treatment Using Activated Carbon Ceramic Adsorbent in Adsorption Column

Using powdered activated carbon as the adsorbent is very common nowadays, but the problem rises due to its light structure makes it easily washed out after or during the adsorption process. This research provides a method to combine powdered activated carbon with clay and modify them into ceramic adsorbent, the combination is molded into small balls and then baked in furnace with high temperature of 1000 oC. Activated carbon has been known for so many years as an effective adsorbent, but its usage to adsorb heavy metals in acid mine drainage needs improvements to meet our expectation, chemical activation is one of the methods should be applied to enhance its adsorption capacity. The adsorbent is activated using alkali solution of NaOH 48% to fill its negative charge to enhance its ability in capturing heavy metallic cations contained in acid mine drainage. This research has proved that the adsorbent used is highly effective to reduce heavy metals pollutant in acid mine drainage, its adsorption capacity reaches most favorable results of 72.33% for Mn and 98.81% for Al at activated carbon:clay ratio 11:29 on contact time 300 min where pH increase is from 4 to 7.1. This may prove that the activated carbon ceramics adsorbent is effective enough to solve acid mine drainage problem

Produksi Asap Cair dari Limbah Kopi di Desa Karang Tanding Kecamatan Jarai Kabupaten Lahat

Komoditas kopi merupakan salah satu komoditas andalan yang memberikan kontribusi besar bagi pendapatan nasional. Tanaman kopi selain menghasilkan produk utama berupa biji kopi juga menghasilkan limbah berupa batang dan kulit buah kopi yang memiliki potensi bahan untuk pembuatan asap cair untuk pengganti pestisida sintetik dan penggumpal lateks. Pelaksanaan kegiatan edukasi dan pelatihan pemanfaatan limbah tanaman kopi menjadi asap cair sebagai bahan pestisida sebagai bentuk pengabdian kepada masyarakat Desa Karang Tanding menjadi alternatif untuk meningkatkan pemahaman masyarakat tentang produk ekonomis yang berasal dari limbah tanaman kopi. Kegiatan ini disambut oleh 1.146 orang yang mayoritas mata pencahariannya di sektor perkebunan. Pemanfaatan limbah kopi melibatkan masyarakat dan mahasiswa termasuk penyiapan materi dan pengolahan lanjutan dengan protokol COVID-19 yang direkomendasikan. Kegiatan selanjutnya merupakan sosialisasi penggunaan alat yang diikuti ± 20 masyarakat dengan harapan masyarakat dapat mengedukasi masyarakat lain dan mengaplikasikan langsung pada perkebunan desa Karang Tanding seluas ± 400 Ha. Produk asap cair yang dihasilkan dengan pemurnian asap cair dapat menghasilkan peptisida alami yang aman bagi sektor perkebunan

Electro-adsorption as a Hybrid Processing to Removed Oil from Synthetic Oily Solution by Using Activated Carbon and Iron Electrodes

Biosolar contains oil, fatty acids, emulsifiers, bactericides, and other chemicals. If the oil contents are mixed with water, it will become hazardous waste and affect drinking water sources, endanger human health, air pollution, affect agricultural production, and damage the natural landscape, so the oil content must be processed to reduce its hazardous content. One of the methods used in treating oily solutions is adsorption. The adsorption method for oily solution treatment is ineffective because it requires several stages, so the required capital is relatively larger and takes longer. Electro-adsorption is one of the methods that is being developed for treating oily solutions. Electro-adsorption is a hybrid separation technology to break down oil emulsions in wastewater and some other organic content. The purpose of this study is to characterize the activated carbon and determine the effect of voltage and time on synthetic oily solution treatment in terms of COD value and oil-fat content. A synthetic oily solution is made by mixing 1 g of biosolar/B30 into the water from the Musi River to a volume of 1 L. The application of the electro-adsorption method uses commercially activated carbon as an adsorbent and iron as an electrode. Variations given to the process with voltage 0, 5, 10, 15 V and time 0, 5, 10, 15, 20, and 25 minutes. The characteristic of activated carbon showed a size change in the pore size from 2.58 µm to 1.98 µm and a reduction of surface area from 740 (±180) m2/g to 730 (±120) m2/g. The electro-adsorption method was effective in treating oily solutions. The decrease of COD reaches the maximum level at a voltage 10 V for 25 minutes, which was 75.92% from 62.33 mg/L to 15 mg/L initially, while the concentration of oil-fat obtains the maximum level at a voltage of 5 V for 5 minutes that is equal to 99.65%, initially 303.19 mg/L to 1.05 mg/L. The optimum condition of the electro-adsorption process in synthetic oily solution was at the voltage of 5 V and a time of 5 minutes. The electro-adsorption process is an effective method to treat synthetic oily solutions

Novel Organic Preservative Made from Eco-Enzyme of Tempeh Waste: The Effect of Substrate and Fermenter Types

The tempeh processing process produces waste in the form of liquid and solid waste that can be utilized into eco-enzyme with the addition of yeast and substrate and lemon peel as a companion raw material. This study aims to produce eco-enzyme from tempeh waste which is then applied as a preservative for mango fruit. The fixed variables in this study are the volume of liquid waste, the amount of epidermis solid waste, the amount of lemon peel, and the amount of yeast and the length of fermentation time. The independent variables were fermenter type (1 and 2) and substrate type (brown sugar (Eco-A), granulated sugar (Eco-B), and molasses (Eco-C)). The results showed that the eco-enzyme products produced were light brown (Eco-A and Eco-C), light yellow (Eco-B) and had a fresh sour aroma typical of lemon peel. The volume of eco-enzyme products after fermentation process were Eco-A1 3.45; Eco-A2 3.27; Eco-B1 3.35; Eco-B2 3.55; Eco-C1 3.25; and Eco-C2 3.36 L. The pH value obtained ranged from 3.05-3.25. Phenol levels ranged from 0.050-0.175mg/L. The fruit preservation process obtained with Eco-C1 is the best variable, where the mango fruit has a shelf life of up to 16 days, with commercial organic preservatives for 12 days and mango fruit without preservatives has a shelf life of 10 days. The preservative from tempeh waste is potential to develop as a commercial product