Partial Hydrogenation of Soybean Oil in a Piston Oscillating Monolith Reactor

The partial hydrogenation of soybean oil was carried out in a novel piston oscillating monolith reactor (POMR). POMR performance was studied under the application of low frequency (0-17.5 Hz) and amplitude (2.5 mm) vibrations at 110 degrees C and 0.41 MPa H-2 using a Pd/Al2O3 monolith catalyst. Results show observed rate improvements of up to 220% for 17.5 Hz, 2.5 mm piston oscillations over low frequency pulsing conditions. For comparison purposes, the reaction was also carried out in a stirred tank reactor using the monolith catalyst. The POMR showed better activity at an equivalent power per unit volume when compared to a stirred tank. With the monolith catalyst, both external and internal mass transfer limitations exist. Using standard diffusion-reaction calculations and measurements over a range of particle sizes it was shown that the vibrations improve external mass transfer rates as well as internal transport within the washcoat. The POMR showed equal or better serial pathway selectivity than a stirred tank, except at the highest frequency, but gave higher trans fatty acid formation.