The Formulation of Foaming Agents from Palm Oil Fatty Acid and Performance Test on Peat Fires

Abstract

Foaming agents from palm oil as one example of palm oil downstream products can reduce water surface tension and create foams to be used to extinguishing fires on peatlands. This research is aimed at obtaining the best foaming agent formula from sodium laurate and potassium palmitate as the result of fatty acid saponification and finding the information on the performance of foaming agent formulas applied to extinguishing fires on peatlands at a laboratory scale. The result of the performance test on the best foaming agent formula is one using 15% sodium laurate and 3% potassium palmitate. The result of the application test shows that the addition of 3.33 wt% of foaming agents to well-sourced water yields foams that can extinguishing fires on peatlands and saves water by 9.89 wt% while giving a shorter fire-fighting time.