Kinetics of hydrogenation of methyl ester of coconut fatty acid to fatty alcohol under moderate pressure

Using a laboratory fixed bed reactor of 20 mL catalyst volume,a series of experiments regarding the hydrogenation of methyl ester of coconut fatty acid to fatty alcohol were conducted under the conditions:Temp 515 K～533 K,pressure 45 MPa～9 MPa,methyl ester flow rate 84 mL/h～216 mL/h,and standard hydrogen flow rate 100 L/h～190 L/h.The whole experimentation was arranged in accordance with homogeneous design method and a series of results and data were obtained.Based upon the chemical equation and assuming a trickle reactor model,these data were treated by stepwise regressive statistical analysis,the reaction kinetic parameters were identified,the reaction kinetic model was established and the kinetic equation in terms of conversion was derived.The reactor under the experimental conditions was concluded as a trickle reactor with trickle index of 0426.The reaction belongs to second order type.