Scale up of Alcohol Synthesis by Hydrogenation of Fatty Acid Methyl Esters

Alcohol synthesis by hydrogenation of methyl laurate was studied using Cu- Chromite catalyst. The reaction was carried out at 180-240 °C and 10 bar to 30bar of H2 in Three different reactors. Among the reaction conditions studied, 180 °C and 30 bar of H2 showed the highest alcohol yield, and a major by-productwas a lengthy ester formed by an ester-exchange reaction between the original ester and the formed alcohol itself. The results showed that to achieve a highalcohol yield, it is important to prepare high pressure and temperature conditions to hydrogenate the lengthy ester formed in situ

Keywords:

Hydrogenation , Coconut fatty acid methyl esters , Lauryl alcohol