Epoxidation of unsaturated fatty acid–based palm oil via peracid mechanism as an intermediate product

The world consumption of raw materials has shifted from the use of non-renewable materials to renewable materials. Studies on greener epoxidation by using vegetable oils to produce eco-friendly epoxides have also increased. In this study, the epoxidation of oleic acid was carried out by in situ-produced performic acid. The one-factor-at-a-time (OFAT) method was used to optimise the epoxidation process for the maximum production of epoxidised oleic acid with respect to oxirane stability as an intermediate product. The OFAT method showed that the optimum process parameters for production of epoxidised oleic acid to the response of relative conversion to oxirane (RCO) and epoxy ring stability at a longer time with the determination of oxirane oxygen content (OOC) was maximum (82%) under following conditions: (1) stirring speed at 350 rpm, (2) reaction temperature at 100 °C, (3) formic acid/oleic acid molar ratio of 2.0:1, and (4) hydrogen peroxide/oleic acid molar ratio of 2.0:1. Overall, a high yield of epoxidised oleic acid production and epoxy ring stability at a longer reaction time was successfully produced from oleic acid as the main raw material. The results showed a good agreement between the simulation and experimental data, validating the kinetic model.