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Hydrogenation of Sunflower Oil over M/SiO 2 and M/Al 2 O 3 (M = Ni, Pd, Pt, Co, Cu) Catalysts
Author(s) -
Cepeda Emilio A.,
IriarteVelasco Unai,
Calvo Beatriz,
Sierra Irene
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
journal of the american oil chemists' society
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.512
H-Index - 117
eISSN - 1558-9331
pISSN - 0003-021X
DOI - 10.1007/s11746-016-2815-8
Subject(s) - catalysis , cobalt , nickel , sunflower oil , selectivity , noble metal , metal , platinum , inorganic chemistry , palladium , chemistry , materials science , organic chemistry , biochemistry
This work is aimed at evaluating the performance of several catalysts in the partial hydrogenation of sunflower oil. The catalysts are composed of noble (Pd and Pt) and base metals (Ni, Co and Cu), supported on both silica and alumina. The following order can be proposed for the effect of the metal on the hydrogenation activity: Pd > Pt > Ni > Co > Cu. At a target iodine value of 70 (a typical value for oleomargarine), the production of trans isomers is minimum for supported nickel catalysts (25.7–32.4 %, depending on the operating conditions). Regarding the effect of the support, Al 2 O 3 allows for more active catalysts based on noble metals (Pd and Pt) and Co, the effect being much more pronounced for Pt. Binary mixtures of catalysts have been studied, in order to strike a balance between catalyst activity and product distribution. The results evidence that Pd/Al 2 O 3 –Co/SiO 2 mixture has a good balance between activity and selectivity, and leads to a very low production of trans isomers (11.8 %) and a moderate amount of saturated stearic acid (13.5 %). Consequently, the utilization of cobalt‐based catalysts (or the addition of cobalt to other metallic catalysts) could be considered a promising alternative for the hydrogenation of edible oil.