Production of Monoacylglycerols from Fully Hydrogenated Palm Oil Catalyzed by Hydrotalcite Loaded with K2CO3

This study reports a new method of producing high-purity monoacylglycerols (MAGs) by glycerolysis of fully hydrogenated palm oil (FHPO) catalyzed by hydrotalcite loaded with K2CO3 (K2CO3/HT). The effects of reaction temperature, reaction time, catalyst (K2CO3/HT) loading, and mass ratio of FHPO to glycerol on glycerolysis were investigated. The selected conditions included a reaction temperature of 200°C, K2CO3/HT loading at 0.8 wt.% (FHPO mass), a 5:2 mass ratio of FHPO to glycerol, and a reaction time of 2 h. Under these selected conditions, the yield of MAGs in the acylglycerol phase reached 46.8 wt.%. A two-stage molecular distillation was introduced to purify MAGs, and the final MAG product was obtained with a purity of 96.6 wt.% and a recovery of 96.8%. Furthermore, the recycled K2CO3/HT was reactivated with restored catalytic efficiency through impregnation, carbonation, and recalcination.