HYDROGENATION OF SOYBEAN OIL BY LOOP REAC TOR EQUIPPED WITH VENTURI NOZZLE

Hydrogenation of soybean oil was conducted in 121 loop reactor equippe d with venturi mixing nozzle to examine the reaction selectivity and r ate. The reactor was compared with ii dead-end type hydrogenator. Desi gn of experiments was employed to evaluate the influence of reaction t emperature, flow rate of soybean oil, hydrogen pressure and reaction t ime on selectivity and formation of trans isomer. Results showed that the flow rate of soybean oil which represents degree of mixing soybean oil, hydrogen, and catalyst in the loop reactor, was dominant among t he reaction conditions affecting hydrogenation carried out in the loop reactor. The greater the flow rate of soybean oil, the smaller the se lectivity was observed. Formation of trans isomer was depressed at gre ater flow rate of oil and at higher reaction temperature within the re action conditions examined here. Reynolds number was adopted in this s tudy to compare degree of mixing reactants and catalyst in both type o f hydrogenators. Reynolds number showed positive correlation with reac tion rate. At same Reynolds number (Re = 4900), both hydrogenators exh ibited almost same reaction rate. However, greater degree of mixing co uld be obtained in loop reactor than in dead-end type hydrogenator, wi th respect to actual hydrogenation process. Therefore, loop reactor eq uipped with venturi mixing nozzle has advantages as mentioned above fo r soybean oil hydrogenation.