Karakteristik Briket Arang Cangkang Biji Karet dengan Campuran Serbuk Kulit Kayu Manis

ABSTRACT Indonesia is an agrarian country with very large agricultural products. In addition, agricultural by-products are also produced that are largely unutilized, such as rubber fruit shells and cinnamon bark scrap waste. The two by-products have the potential to be used as alternative biomass fuels, one of which is charcoal briquettes. The use of charcoal briquettes tends to produce a pungent smell. Therefore, cinnamon bark powder can be used to reduce the pungent smell. This has the potential to change the aroma of conventional charcoal briquettes. But this related research is still very limited. Therefore, this research aims to analyze the influence of cinnamon bark powder composition on the characteristics of rubber seed shell charcoal briquettes. Charcoal briquettes from rubber seed shell charcoal material CK (100%) and added cinnamon bark powder CK:KM (80%:20%) were made with the addition of tapioca glue and prepared 5 times. Charcoal briquettes are then tested for their characteristics, including: 1. water content, 2. density, 3. ash content, 4. volatile matter content, 5. fixed carbon content, 6. caloric value, 7. compressive strength, and 8. burning rate. The analysis results show that CK (100%) charcoal briquettes have the characteristics of briquettes with low water content, high density, high ash content, high volatile matter content, low fixed carbon content, low calorific value, high compressive strength and high burning rate compared to CK:KM (80%:20%). Based on the values of these parameters, charcoal briquettes CK:KM (80%:20%) have better quality than CK (100%) on 4 parameters (ash content, volatile matter content, fixed carbon content, caloric value and burning rate). Keywords: charcoal briquettes, rubber seed shell, characteristics, cinnamon bark powder ABSTRAK Indonesia merupakan negara agraris dengan hasil pertanian sangat besar. Selain itu, juga dihasilkan produk samping pertanian yang sebagian besar belum dimanfaatkan, seperti cangkang buah karet dan limbah kerokan kayu manis. Dua buah produk samping tersebut, berpotensi dimanfaatkan sebagai bahan bakar alternatif biomassa salah satunya briket arang. Penggunaan briket arang cenderung menghasilkan bau yang menyengat. Oleh karena itu serbuk kayu manis mampu digunakan mengurangi bau menyengat tersebut. Hal ini sangat potensial mengubah aroma briket arang konvensional. Tetapi penelitian terkait ini masih sangat terbatas. Oleh karena itu, penelitian ini bertujuan menganalisis pengaruh komposisi serbuk kulit kayu manis terhadap karakteristik briket arang cangkang biji karet. Briket arang dari bahan arang cangkang biji karet CK (100%) dan tambahan serbuk kulit kayu manis CK:KM (80%:20%) dibuat dengan penambahan perekat tapioka dan disiapkan 5 ulangan. Briket arang kemudian diuji karakteristikya, diantaranya: 1. kadar air, 2. kerapatan, 3. kadar abu, 4. kadar zat menguap, 5. kadar karbon terikat, 6. kalor, 7. keteguhan tekan, dan 8. laju pembakaran. Hasil analisis menunjukkan briket arang CK (100%) memiliki karakter briket dengan kadar air rendah, kerapatan tinggi, kadar abu tinggi, kadar zat menguap tinggi, kadar karbon terikat rendah, kalor rendah, keteguhan tekan tinggi, dan laju pembakaran tinggi dibandingkan briket CK:KM (80%:20%). Berdasarkan nilai parameter-parameter tersebut briket arang CK:KM (80%:20%) memiliki kualitas lebih baik dibandingkan CK (100%) pada 4 parameter (kadar abu, kadar zat menguap, kadar karbon terikat, kalor dan laju pembakaran). Kata kunci: briket arang, cangkang biji karet, karakteristik, serbuk kulit kayu manis