Synthesis and kinetic model study of olefinic double bonds of palm oleic fatty acids derivatives via epoxidation / Mohd Saufi Md Zaini & Norkamruzita Saadon

The study was held to investigate the epoxidation process parameters of RBD (refined, bleached & deodorized) oleic acid palm oil- based via in-situ generated performic acid to percentage of relative conversion to oxirene (RCO). Performic acid was produced by mixing various concentration ratio of hydrogen peroxide as oxygen donor and formic acid as oxygen carrier. A Series of experiments were conducted at the optimum conditions to investigate the effects of reaction temperature, hydrogen peroxide to oleic acid mole ratio (H2O2/OA), and formic acid to oleic acid (FA/OA) unsaturation mole ratio on the percentage of relative conversion to oxirane (RCO). The results showed the optimum value RCO was obtain by using 1:1 molar ratio of FA/OA, 1:1 mole ratio of H2O2/OA and temperature of 45oC. Investigation on reaction time showed that the highest RCO was attained at 2 hours. This finding hope to provide an additional insight in understanding the epoxidation process from RBC palm oil oleic acid.