Soybean Oil Treatment Using the Dissolving Curve Equation of Hydrogen

Abstract

IntroductionOil hydrogenation technology is an important means of fat modification 1 . The conventional hydrogenation process is a typical solid-liquid-gas-phase system. In the oil hydrogenation process, hydrogen is dissolved in oil first, and then the liquid phase hydrogen gas and oil react together with a catalyst. Therefore, hydrogen diffuses into the surface of the catalyst in a three-phase system. Hydrogen is first adsorbed by the center of the catalyst activity. Then, adsorbed hydrogen encounters the adsorbed oil fatty acid chains to produce hydrogenated fats 2, 3 . Hydrogen solubility in oil is the saturation hydrogen concentration in oil. The transfer of hydrogen in oils and fats plays a crucial role in the solubility of hydrogen in oils and fats. Meanwhile, the oil supply of hydrogen during the hydrogenation has an important impact on the hydrogenation reaction rate 4 and trans fatty acids TFAs . Chen et al. 5 and Chávez et al. 6 studied the vapor-liquid equilibrium of hydrogen and hydrocarbon as well as the impact of vapor-liquid equilibrium on the hydrogenation reaction, and the results showed that the solubility of hydrogen has an important influence on the reaction. In particular, hydrogen solubility is important for the hydrogenation of oils and fats.