Pra-Rancangan Pabrik Carboxymethyl Cellulose dari Tongkol Jagung dengan Proses Russel Nelson Kapasitas 13.000 Ton/Tahun

Abstract

The preliminary design for a Carboxymethyl Cellulose (CMC) plant is based on a capacity of 13,000 metric tons per year, using corn cobs as the primary raw material. The plant is planned to be built in the Tuban Industrial Park, Sumurgeneng Village, Jenu Subdistrict, Tuban Regency, East Java. The CMC production process selected for this design is the continuous Russell-Nelson process, which uses two separate reactors. The process begins with the preparation of raw materials, which involves reducing the size of corn cobs using a hammer mill and standardizing their size with a screener. Next, cellulose is isolated through a delignification process using a 10% NaOH solution, followed by a bleaching process using 30% H₂O₂, and then the filtration and drying stages. The product synthesis stage was carried out through the alkali treatment of cellulose using 20% NaOH in isopropanol, followed by an esterification reaction using sodium monochloroacetate (SMCA). The reaction product then undergoes a stage of neutralizing residual base using 90% acetic acid, solid separation, washing of the CMC with 70% ethanol, drying in a rotary dryer, and size uniformization of the final product to 80 mesh using a disk attrition mill. This process produces a solid powdered CMC product with a purity of up to 91%. The Carboxymethyl Cellulose Plant is organized as a limited liability company (PT) with a total of 253 employees. The economic evaluation results show that the plant’s net profit is Rp 155,295,239,658, with a Payback Period (POT) of 4.48 years and a rate of return on investment of 19.77%, resulting in a Break Even Point (BEP) of 43.28%.