Resumen
Chitosan is a natural linear biopolyaminosaccharide obtained by alkaline deacetylation of chitin. It is the principal component of the protective cuticles of crustaceans such as Tachypleus gigas (Horseshoe crab) and can be utilized as anti-microbial agent or water purification. There are lacks of study on horseshoe crab and it needs further study to fully utilize the benefits of this shell. Therefore, this research was conducted to produce chitosan from horseshoe crab assisted with ultrasonic to treat wastewater from palm oil industry. There are four methods for chitosan productions which were deproteinization, demineralization, decolorization, and deacetylation. Deacetylation is the most crucial part where the chitin was converted to chitosan. There were two methods used during the deacetylation process which were ultrasonification and hot plate method. These two different methods were applied for 30, 60 and 90 minutes to improve the chitosan performances. The best conditions were investigated and the samples were analyzed using solubility test and Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR). The chitosan?s were then applied to treat palm oil wastewater via flocculation test with different dosage of 1 gram and 3 grams. The treated wastewater was further analyzed using turbidity, dissolved oxygen (DO) and the Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD) test. Ultrasonic assisted horseshoe crab chitosan with 60 minutes application gives a better performance than the conventionally produced chitosan with the COD value of 1044 mg O2/L, DO of 4.86 mg/L and turbidity of 341 NTU. The hot plate method with 60 minutes application gives a COD value of 1028 mg O2/L, DO of 4.34 mg/L and turbidity of 378 NTU. These results show the advantages of ultrasonification in chitosan synthesis and it prove the ability of horse crab as a good coagulant.