II International Symposium on Carbon for Catalysis ABSTRACTS

PP-I-38
CARBON SUPPORTED PALLADIUM CATALYSTS: HIGHLY ACTIVE
CATALYTIC SYSTEMS FOR CONTINUOUS HYDROGENATION OF
POLYUNSATURATED FATTY ACIDS AND THEIR TRIGLYCERIDES
Simakova I.L., Deliy I.V., Romanenko A.V., Voropaev I.N.
Boreskov Institute of Catalysis SB RAS, Novosibirsk, Russia
e-mail: simakova@catalysis.ru
Hydrogenation of polyunsaturated fatty acids and their triglycerides over platinum metals
is important process in the oil, fat and oleochemical industries that provides a broad
assortment of margarines, shortenings, light butters and fats with low trans-isomer content
free of carcinogenic nickel [1]. Parallel with it there is an increasing worldwide interest to
monounsaturated and saturated fatty acids manufacture for tire and candle production,
cosmetic and pharmaceutical industries [2]. To produce saturated fatty acid there is very
attractive possibility for industrial application to use the interchangeable raw materials
passing through the same effective catalyst. Highly active catalysts on the base of palladium
can be proposed to provide selective C=C double bond hydrogenation of sunflower seed oil
[3] and methyl linoleate [4]. However reactivity of free fatty acids (FFA) differs from that for
esters and FFA saturation demands the higher temperature and elevated hydrogen pressure
[5]. Some undesired decarbonylation reaction can occur at the operating conditions to
decrease activity of palladium catalyst.
The aim of this work is to study the Pd/C catalyst performance in continuous
hydrogenation of rapeseed oil and industrial free fatty acids at different operating conditions.
Samples of Pd/C catalyst with palladium content from 0.5 to 1.0% (wt) were prepared by
an incipient wetness impregnation method which includes spraying the solutions H 2 PdCl 4 and
Na 2 CO 3 onto the carbon granules (spheres by diameter of 2÷3 and 4÷6 mm) agitated in a
rotating cylinder. The application of activated carbon “Sibunit” as a carbonaceous support has
been favored by its high surface area, chemical inertness in acidic media and by the absence
of very strong acidic centers on its surface which could promote undesirable isomerization
reactions during the catalytic run [6]. Experiments were performed using stainless-steel
up-flow reactor at temperature range from 146 to 180 o C and elevated hydrogen pressure up to
8 bars. Reagents passed through a pre-heat reservoir and then flowed over the fixed catalyst
bed. Hydrogen was metered into the system using a mass flow controller. Condensable
products were collected in a water-cooled collector and analyzed by GLC method. To
estimate C=C double bond saturation efficiency the melting point of fatty acid hydrogenated
products (MPFA) was determined. This characteristic reflects the completeness of fatty acid
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