| Abstract: | Continuous epoxidation of soybean oil: operational analysis and process development The epoxidation of refined soybean oil with peracetic acid is examined having special regard to the mass and heat transfer phenomena as well as to distribution coefficients depending on conversion and temperature. The process is described by a mathematic mechanistic model based on the cooled continuously stirred two-phase tank reactor. The process is limited by hydrodynamics and chemical kinetics. The main operation parameters feed temperature of coolant, volumetric rate of the lipoid phase, and residence time are optimized with respect to the space-time-yield. The two-stage countercurrent cascade of tank reactors leads to higher space-time-yields as well as higher epoxide yields. |
