The electrochemical hydrogenation of edible oils in a solid polymer electrolyte reactor. I. Reactor design and operation

A new electrochemical method has been devised and tested for the moderate temperature/atmospheric pressure hydrogenation of edible oils, fatty acids, and fatty acid methyl esters. The method employed a solid polymer electrolyte (SPE) reactor, similar to that used in H2/O2 fuel cells, with water as the source of hydrogen. The key component of the reactor was a membrane-electrode-assembly, composed of a RuO2 powder anode and either a Pt-black or Pd-black powder cathode that were hot-pressed as thin films onto the opposing surfaces of a Nafion cation-exchange membrane. During reactor operation at a constant applied current, water was back-fed to the RuO2 anode, where it was oxidized electrochemically to O2 and H+. Protons migrated through the Nafion membrane under the influence of the applied electric field and contacted the Pt or Pd cathode, where they were reduced to atomic and molecular hydrogen. Oil was circulated past the back side of the cathode and unsaturated triglycerides reacted with the electrogenerated hydrogen species. The SPE reactor was operated successfully at a constant applied current density of 0.10 A/cm2 and a temperature between 50 and 80°C with soybean, canola, and cottonseed oils and with mixtures of fatty acids and fatty acid methyl esters. Reaction products with iodine values in the range of 60–105 were characterized by a higher stearic acid content and a lower percentage of trans isomers than those produced in a traditional hydrogenation process.