Selective and Complete Hydrogenation of Vegetable Oils and Free Fatty Acids in Supercritical Fluids

Abstract

As described in other chapters of this book and elsewhere (Jessop, 1999), a wide range of catalytic reactions can be carried out in supercritical fluids, such as Fischer–Tropsch synthesis, isomerization, hydroformylation, CO2 hydrogenation, synthesis of fine chemicals, hydrogenation of fats and oils, biocatalysis, and polymerization. In this chapter, we describe experiments aimed at addressing the potential of using supercritical carbon dioxide (and carbon dioxide/propane mixtures) for applications in the hydrogenation of vegetable oils and free fatty acids. Supercritical fluids, particularly carbon dioxide, offer a number of potential advantages for chemical processing including (1) continuously tunable density, (2) high solubilities for many solids and liquids, (3) complete miscibility with gases (e.g., hydrogen, oxygen), (4) excellent heat and mass transfer, and (5) the ease of separation of product and solvent. The low viscosity and excellent thermal and mass transport properties of supercritical fluids are particularly attractive for continuous catalytic reactions (Harrod and Moller, 1996; Hutchenson and Foster, 1995; Kiran and Levelt Sengers, 1994; Perrut and Brunner, 1994; Tacke et al., 1998). There are a number of reports on hydrogenation reactions in supercritical fluids using homogenous and heterogeneous catalysts (Baiker, 1999; Harrod and Moller, 1996; Hitzler and Poliakoff, 1997; Hitzler et al., 1998; Jessop et al., 1999; Meehan et al., 2000; van den Hark et al., 1999). We have investigated the selective hydrogenation of vegetable oils and the complete hydrogenation of free fatty acids for oleochemical applications, since there are some disadvantages associated with the current industrial process and the currently used supported nickel catalyst. The hydrogenation of fats and oils is a very old technology (Veldsink et al., 1997). It was invented in 1901, by Normann, in order to increase the melting point and the oxidation stability of fats and oils through selective hydrogenation. Since the melting point increases during the hydrogenation, the reaction is also referred to as hardening. The melting behavior of the hydrogenated product is determined by the reaction conditions (temperature, hydrogen pressure, agitation, hydrogen uptake). Vegetable oils (edible oils) are hydrogenated selectively for application in the food industry; whereas free fatty acids are completely hydrogenated for oleochemical applications (e.g., detergents).