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The continuous use of fuel reduces oil reserves which causes the availability of petroleum in Indonesia tend to decrease. To overcome the problem of oil supplies, renewable energy is needed as an alternative fuel, one of which is bio-gasoline as a substitute for gasoline. Bio-gasoline can be made from Crude Palm Oil offgrade via catalytic cracking that has the advantage of simple tools and shorter processes cracking. Heterogeneous catalyst CaO/α-Fe2O3 made of alkaline calcium oxide which can reduce the acidity of biogasoline and α-Fe2O3 nanoparticles acidic which can trigger the breakdown of the hydrocarbon chain. This study aims to synthesize bio-gasoline from CPO offgrade through catalytic cracking reactions using CaO/α-Fe2O3 heterogeneous catalyst. The results showed that bio-gasoline has been successfully produced by the cracking method with a yield of 46.18%. Based on GC-MS analysis of the product it is suspected to contain mixed compounds from the biogasoline such as heptane, octane, decane, nonane, and undecane. Physico-chemical characteristics of the biogasoline product for fraction III (F3) include density, viscosity, acid number, iodine number, and refractive index respectively of 0.73 g/mL; 2.76 cSt; 15.639 mg KOH/g sample; 2.29 g Iod/100g sample; and 1.465. The Biogasoline characterization is close to the Gasoline quality standard No. 0177.K/10/DJM.T/2018.

Silica is the most abundant compound on the Earth’s surface. The content of silica can be found in agricultural waste ash and mineral rocks. Extracting silica from natural sources is advantageous due to its economic feasibility and easily obtained. Silica has a wide range of applications, such as in fertilizers, adsorbents, organic reaction catalysis, biofuels/alternative energy production, and as an antimicrobial agent. One type of rock that contains the highest amount of silica is Pyrophyllite. Recent research trends have focused on various methods and sources for silica extraction, yet extracting silica from mineral rocks presents its own challenges. Pyrophyllite rock contains a high amount of silica, but its extraction is quite difficult due to the presence of crystalline silicate mineral phases. This study aims to compare the silica extraction process on Pyrophyllite rocks from Malang using the sol-gel method versus the alkali fusion method.