Utilization of fatty acids from the edible oil industry in synthesis of 2-hydroxy propyl palmitate as a bioaditive solar fuel

The sulphur content in diesel oil must be less than 0.5% by weight of diesel oil, because the high sulphur content will accelerate the occurrence of wear and tear on the engine cylinder walls. For this reason, desulphurization is carried out to reduce sulphur content in diesel oil. The process of desulphurisation of diesel oil causes a decrease in the lubricating power of diesel oil to the engine so that the addition of additives is needed. In this research, bioaditive substances in the form of 2-hydroxy propyl palmitate have been synthesized from the cooking oil industry fatty acids. The reaction begins with esterification of palmitic acid with BF3 / methanol to produce a methyl palmitate ester with a yield of 72.13%. Furthermore, methyl palmitate ester was esterified using propylene glycol and K2CO3 as a base to produce 2-hydroxy propyl palmitate which acts as a bioaditive with a yield of 52.90%. Structure identification is done by Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectroscopy (GC-MS) method.