Abstract:
Waste palm midrib is a byproduct of industry solid waste production that has not
been fully utilized. One utilization of the cellulose is nitration reaction on cellulose that
produce nitrocellulose. Nitrocellulose is a form of commercial polymers that used in the
manufacture of explosives and manufacture of various industrial products. This study aimed
to determine the reaction kinetics of waste palm midrib nitration process at a variety of
temperatures. Nitration is done by the addition of nitric acid in sulfuric acid medium
conditioned with the reactor at various reaction temperature at any given time. After
nitration process, product washed with bicarbonate and distilled water, than dried in a
desiccator and finally analyzed the content of the concentration of beta and gamma cellulose
by SNI 0444: 2009. Results showed the lowest concentration of beta and gamma cellulose
obtained when the reaction takes place at temperatures of 5 -10 °C which produces second
order reaction. Activation energy obtained is 33,465.034 cal/mol and the frequency of
collisions is 1.421 x 1024. So, the Arrhenius equation:
k = 1.421 x 1024e-33465,034/RT
