MBKM Story from Cikasungka Palm Oil Mill (PTPN VIII)

The Cikasungka factory is a palm oil processing factory located at Jalan Raya Cigudeg No. 33 Mekarjaya Village, Bogor Regency, West Java. The palm oil mill which officially operated in October 2013 belongs to PT Perkebunan Nusantara VIII. PT Perkebunan Nusantara VIII will become one of the practical work places for Department of Bioenergy Engineering and Chemurgy students at the Institut Teknologi Bandung in 2021. Students who took part in this activity included Rizkyka Affiaty R (14517004), Mohammad Reza Ramdani (14517032), Nadya Shalsabila Salman (14518004), Griselda Melania Yahya (14518006), Heian Vania Ratri (14518008), Muhammad Alif Akbar Syach (14518015), and Sabila Uswatunnisa (14518023) with the supervisor Dr. Ir. Elvi Restiawaty and Dr. Tirto Prakoso.

There is a slight difference in practical work activities this year, due to the integration between practical work activities and the MBKM (Merdeka Belajar Kampus Merdeka) program initiated by the Indonesian Ministry of Education and Culture (Kemendikbud). This practical work program is expected to be a medium for interaction and synchronization between the academic world and the world of work, learning media, training, and application of the knowledge gained for students. Practical work participants get a very interesting experience to be able to go directly to the field and see the processes that occur at each processing unit station at the palm oil mill, starting from the loading ramp station for Palm Fruit Bunches (FFB) to the production of the main product in the form of Crude Palm Oil. (CPO) and kernels as well as other by-products such as fiber, palm shells, Empty Palm Oil Bunches (TKS), and waste. Practical work participants also learn about testing the quality of CPO and kernels in the factory’s laboratory. Samples of CPO and kernel produced by the factory are taken periodically for quality tests such as water content, impurities and free fatty acids in the laboratory. The methods used for testing CPO are various such as moisture analysis, extraction, and distillation.

Not only learning the processes and overall operations that take place at the related mills, practical work participants can also learn about HR management, office administration, and waste management in palm oil mills. Case studies of problems in factories are also given to hone students’ thinking skills regarding analysis and providing solutions to these problems. The title given is generally related to the optimization of a factor that can affect the process, such as: analysis of palm oil waste as boiler fuel using composition variations between fiber and palm fruit shells, the effect of ripple mill efficiency on the quality and quantity of kernel production, optimization of boiling cycle time in PKS Cikasungka PTPN VIII decoction station, as well as the process and calculation of CPO and kernel production samples to see the quality of the production.

The Department of Bioenergy Engineering and Chemurgy thanked the industrial internship opportunity that had been given. Hopefully this collaboration can be continued in the future.

 

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