EQUILIBRIUM ANALYSIS OF FATTY ESTERS REACTION CONVERSION TO FATTY ALCOHOL AT HIGH PRESSURE

• Main Author: Nur Shabrina, Athirah
• Format: Final Project
• Language: Indonesia
• Online Access: https://digilib.itb.ac.id/gdl/view/50600
• Institution: Institut Teknologi Bandung

The demand for fatty alcohol is predicted to increase over time. Fatty alcohol is produced from the reaction of FAME (Fatty Acid Methyl Ester) with hydrogen. There are differences from previous research regarding conversion and selectivity of reaction. Therefore, it is necessary to analyze the reaction condition that gives the highest conversion in equilibrium reaction. The aim of this research is to determine operating conditions that give the highest conversion in equilibrium and to determine methods that give high reaction selectivity. Equilibrium reaction analysis is conducted with Aspen Plus v01.0. The range of operating conditions used on simulation is at 180-220°C of temperature and 180-300 bar of pressure. The simulation is performed on the main and side reactions of fatty alcohol production. Meanwhile, the type of FAME used in the simulation is methyl laurate, methyl myristate, and ME24 (a mixture of methyl laurate and methyl myristate). The results obtained from simulation are reaction conversion and yield of main products and by-products. Based on simulation results, the operating condition that produces high conversion with relatively low pressure is at 180°C of temperature and 250 bar of pressure. The by-products being produced in the simulation are alkanes, fatty acids, water, and methanol. Amount of alkanes and water in the product can be minimized using catalyst with Cu metal as active phase and Mn and Zn metal as promoter is advised. Meanwhile, to obtain a reaction with a low amount of fatty acids, the minimum ratio of H2 to FAME required is 3. Methanol production could not be avoided, but methanol can be utilized as reactant on transesterification reaction.