Identification of Patchouli-Oil Physical Properties on Oil Purification by Using Acid-Activated Bentonite

Abstract

This research is aimed at obtaining patchouli-oil physical properties on purification that include clearness, specific gravity, refractive index and optical rotation. The method of research used is Complete Randomized Design (CRD) with factorial design. Two factors that have been examined are 1) bentonite activations with 3 levels: inactivated bentonite, H2SO4-activated bentonite, and HCl-activated bentonite; and 2) the number of bentonite applications with 5 levels: 1%, 2%, 3%, 4% and 5%.   An analysis of oil color is made by using UV spectrophotometer to see clearness or its transmittance percentage. The results of experiment indicate that percentage of transmittance increases from 69% to 70.80 – 81.55%; specific gravity and optical rotation are in accordance with Indonesian National Standard (SNI 06-2385-2006); and refractive index is 0.0044 – 0.0086 points above the standard. The H2SO4-activated bentonite with 2% application is the best outcome. This is shown with the highest clearness and transmittance percentage of 81.55%, specific gravity of 0.9284, refractive index of 1.5186 and optical rotation of (-) 49oC.