Kinetic Study of Hydrodeoxygenation of Palmitic Acid in a Microreactor

Kinetic study of hydrodeoxygenation of Palmitic Acid in a Microreactor

Lin Zhou and Adeniyi Lawal

New Jersey Center for Microchemical Systems, Dept. of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, Stevens Institute of Technology,

1 Castle Point on Hudson,

Hoboken, NJ 07030

 

Microalgae, on account of its high acylglycerides content and faster growth rate than terrestrial oil crops, are favored as a feedstock for green diesel production via hydrodeoxygenation (HDO). Performance studies on HDO of Nannochloropsis salina (N.S.), the workhorse of the industry, were conducted and reported previously.

 Here we extend this previous work by studying the kinetics of palmitic acid, selected as the model compound for N.S. oil due to its high content in N.S., in a microreactor using 1% Pt/¦Ã-Al₂O₃. Mass and heat transfer limitations were firstly examined to make sure the rate data was obtained in the intrinsic kinetic regime. Kinetic experiments were conducted in a differential mode, in which the conversion of reactants was kept below 5% to assure the reactor was essentially gradientless. Both Power law and Langmuir-Hinshelwood type rate equations were fitted to the experimental data. Finally, the goodness of fit of the proposed kinetic models was determined by examining the statistical parameters.