Abstract
Influence of nitrogen gas added to hydrogen on hydrogenation of corn oil has been evaluated. Hydrogenation of corn oil was conducted in a 12l loop reactor with reduced nickel catalyst. Nitrogen gas influenced its reaction rate as previously reported on soybean oil hydrogenation with inert gases added to hydrogen gas. When hydrogenation pressure was greater than 2.94×105Pa, the reaction was accelerated with increasing nitrogen pressure. The reaction rate decreased with increasing nitrogen pressure at hydrogen pressure below 1.96×105Pa. Hydrogen pressure at which the added nitrogen did not affect the reaction was determined 2.45×105Pa Which was higher than the hydrogen pressure of soybean oil hydrogenation. No marked influence of nitrogen gas was observed on trans-isomer formation. The results indicated that effect of added nitrogen on the reaction depended on fatty acid composition of oil to be hydrogenated. The experimental reaction rate equation derived in the previous paper was also adopted in this study. The equation was confirmed to express well the influence of nitrogen gas added to hydrogen on hydrogenation of corn oil.
