Nano porous alkaline earth metal silicates as free fatty acid adsorbents from Crude Palm Oil (CPO)

Free fatty acids(FFA) from Crude Palm Oil (CPO) have been adsorbed by alkaline earth metal silicate (M-silicate : M = Mg, Ca, Sr and Ba) adsorbents in ethanol using batch method. The adsorbents were prepared from the chloride salts of alkaline metals and Na2SiO3. The resulting white solid of the alkaline earth metal silicates were then heated at 800°C for 3 hours to enlarge their porosities. All adsorbents were characterized by SEM-EDX, XRD and BET. The EDX spectrum of SEM-EDX showed the appearance of all elements in the adsorbents, and the XRD spectrum of all adsorbents showed that they have crystobalite structure. The porosity of the adsorbents calculated by BET method showed that the porosities of the adsorbents range from 2.0884 - 2.0969 nm. All the adsorbents were used to adsorb the FFA from CPO containing 4.79%, 7.3%, 10.37% and 13.34% of FFA. The ratio of adsorbent to CPO to be used in adsorption of FFA from CPO were made 1:1, 1:2 and 1:3, with adsorption time of 1 hour. We found that the maximum a...