JAKARTA. Through the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources (ESDM), the Indonesian government is running the trial of creating the fuel oil with palm oil (bensa), following the success of manufacturing biodiesel and bioavtur (bio-jet fuel) that incorporates palm oil.
The Ministry of ESDM conducts the said testing alongside the Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB). The test result will be the parameter for the feasibility study and the detail engineering design (DED) of bensa production with a capacity of 238.5 kilolitres (kl) per day.
“The idea has been long initiated by the Bandung Institute of Technology, Professor Subagjo, and his colleagues. Two years ago, we encouraged them to scale it up from the laboratory-scale result,” Arifin Tasrif, Minister of ESDM, stated.
Tasrif then added that in the present pilot plant scale, there had been 1,000 litres of feed per day. Thus, the bensa is claimed to score 115 in the Research Octane Number (RON) with this feeding capacity.
“Therefore, we are on the right track. Now, it depends on the execution so that this project could generate a competitive commercial value,” Tasrif concluded. (KR/ZH)