The hydrogenation of soybean oil in a SPE reactor

The unsaturated triglycerides in soybean oil have been hydrogenated electrocatalytically in a solid polymer electrolyte (SPE) reactor without the use of an external supply of H-2 gas and without the addition of a supporting electrolyte salt which might contaminate the food-grade oil product, Membrane-electrode-assemblies (MEAs) were composed of either a Pt or Pd black cathode, a RuO2 powder anode, and a Nafion 117 cation-exchange membrane SPE. pure oil and distilled water were circulated past the back-sides of each electrode. A current efficiency as high as 52% was obtained with a Pd catalyst cathode at a reaction temperature of 60 degrees C and current density of 100 mA/cm(2). The hydro-oil contained a higher amount of saturated fatty acids and a lower trans fatty acid isomer content, as compared to that produced in a traditional chemical catalytic oil hydrogenation process.