Aspekte bei der Hydrierung von Fetten und Fettsäuren

Aspects of Hydrogenation of Fats and Fatty Acids Hydrogenation of fat products is of great significance, both for human and animal nutrition as well as for technical purposes. In the area of nutrition, adequate food for the increasing world population is unthinkable without utilization of all fat resources, that can be made available as food fats only after catalytic hydrogenation. In the area of technical use, a similar development is observed owing to shortage of mineral oils. Thus, fatty alcohols derived from vegetable oils and waxes can already compete in price with fully synthetic fatty alcohols derived from mineral oils. In the past 70 years of hydrogenation of fats till the present time, catalysts based on nickel have been most commonly used. In addition, small proportions of catalysts based on copper and noble metals have also been used. Homogenous catalysts have been used very recently. The present communication deals primarily with the hydrogenation of neutral fats and fatty acids using nickel catalysts. The aspects of selectivity and isomerization in the partial hydrogenation of neutral fats are discussed. In the hydrogenation of fatty acids and their derivatives, emphasis is laid on other factors, such as activity, poisoning and acid resistance of the catalyst. These factors are discussed.