Hydrolysis of palm oil catalyzed by macroporous cation-exchanged resin

Hydrolysis of palm oil-was studied using four types of commercial H+-exchan ged resin with acidity in the region of 5 x 10(-3) eq g(-1) but with differ ent pore volumes, specific surface areas, and pore diameters. The reaction was carried out in a stirred batch reactor in the liquid phase with continu ous steam injection for up to 14 h. The rate of hydrolysis did not depend o n total pore volume and specific surface area but did depend on pore diamet er. On exchanging H+ with La3+, Co2+, and Na+, the rate of reaction decreas ed markedly and was dependent on the degree of exchange, demonstrating that hydrolysis was catalyzed by H+ sites. The activation energy for the hydrol ysis of the triglycerides was estimated to be 240 kj mol(-1). A procedure t o estimate the rates of the different stages of hydrolysis and hence the in dividual rate constants of the forward and reverse reactions is described. The procedure yielded reasonable parameters for the reaction at 155 degrees C up to 6 h of reaction time, when about 75 mol% of triglycerides was hydr olyzed.