| Summary: | Epoxy ring stability of epoxidized palm olein was studied by identifying the possible reaction conditions that affect the stability of epoxy ring and optimizing the reaction conditions using Taguchi optimization method. Parameters such as reaction temperature, type of catalyst, formic acid-to-palm olein unsaturation molar ratio and stirring speed were studied. Epoxidation results were based on the stability of epoxy ring, supported by conversion to epoxide. An L93-4 Taguchi orthogonal array was applied to design the experiment, and signal-to-noise (S/N) ratio was used to assess the most optimum level of each parameter. The results obtained indicated that the type of catalyst largely affect the stability of epoxy ring, with alumina being the most effective catalyst. The optimum operating conditions for epoxidation with respect to stability of oxirane ring were found to be: reaction temperature at 65oC, formic acid-to-palm olein unsaturation molar ratio of 0.5:1, alumina as catalyst and stirring speed of 300rpm. The results also indicated that higher conversion to epoxide is achievable by using alumina as catalyst at low reaction temperature of 45°C. Formic acid also exhibited good performance as an autocatalyst to increase the conversion to epoxide, although it requires higher reaction temperature (65°C) and higher formic acid-to-palm olein unsaturation molar ratio (1:1). © 2024 Author(s).
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