Abstract :
Crude oil is generally mixed with water at the time of production. The resulting water must be separated from the oil and properly resolved. The oil and water mixture at the time of production is known as an emulsion. In addressing the problem of emulsions requires the addition of a chemical compound, commonly referred to as demulsifier to be able to separate water and oil. This research aims to make the formulation of demulsifier locally based on castor oil. This castor oil will be processed into a surfactant compound because it has a very high saturated fat content of 33% of the total weight of the seeds. The manufacture of this demulsifier using saponification method is to heat the castor oil and add the KOH dissolved in aquades, as well as the added glycerin to taste. Then, the process of testing demulsification with a sample of the emulsion of crude oil that has been prepared using the bottle test method. Testing is conducted for 180 minutes and observation is made every 30 minutes using the waterbath. Local demulsifier made from castor oil material is expected to overcome water emulsion in oil better and environmentally friendly than commercial demulsifier. From the test results of several temperature conditions, different concentration and time obtained the best test results by demulsifier in the separation of water at a temperature of 8 In sample 1 demulsifier surfaktan (DS1) and the demulsifier surfaktan (DSL1) added lemon separates the water by as much as 38 ml and 39 ml, sample 2 demulsifier surfaktan (DS2) and the demulsifier surfaktan (DSL2) added lemon separates as much as 32 ml and 35 ml and sample 3 demulsifier surfaktan (DS3) and demulsifier surfaktan (DSL3) added lemon separating water as much as 34 ml and 36.5 ml. Meanwhile, the commercial demulsifier separates the water by 31 ml. Thus, it can be concluded that the demulsifier made from castor oil has a better ability than commercial demulsifier for laboratory scale.