Abstract
Natural fatty oils contain a number of minor components which act as catalyst poison. These are phosphatides, oxidized glyceride, proteins and unidentified gummy material. The poisoning effect is reversible, the catalyst can be reactivated.
X-ray diffraction data from the copper-chromium-manganese oxide catalyst which had been used in the hydrogenation of unsaturated fatty oils showed cupric oxide largely reduced to metallic copper, whereas cupric chromite combined manganese oxide, the true catalyst, has not been reduced to cuprous chromite.
Authors have succeeded in reviving the spent catalyst by removing the poisons adsorbed on the surface of the catalyst, namely by the “wet oxidizing methods”. The activity and selectivity of revived catalyst for hydrogenation of unsaturated fatty oils were found to be the same order which would be used as well the fresh unpoisoned catalyst.
