Hidrogenación de aceite de girasol en condiciones supercríticas con catalizadores de Pd

CRISTIAN M. PIQUERAS; MARÍA B. FERNÁNDEZ; GABRIELA TONETTO; SUSANA E. BOTTINI; DANIEL E. DAMIANI

Santa Fe de la Veracruz, Argentina

Congreso; XII Congreso Argentino de Catálisis; 2005

Universidad nacional del Litoral

The sunflower oil hydrogenation at conventional conditions is insensitive of the catalyst surface morphology; as a result of that the reaction is diffusion controlled.  The H2 transport problem hides the phenomena that really occur at the catalyst surface in the reaction. The adding of a supercritical solvent permits to maintain in solution an edible oil and a permanent gas ( H2 ). Thus, it is possible carry out the hydrogenation reaction in a homogeneous phase keeping in contact with solid catalyst. In this way, solubility restrictions and mass transfer limitations present in the conventional process are eliminated.  Activity and selectivity were compared utilizing supercritical propane and g-Al2O3 supported Pd catalysts with different particle size.  It was found there are no variations in the reaction rate and cis-isomers selectivity and the production of saturated compound were favored in the case of the smallest metallic particle size (< 2 nm).