A PROCESS FOR THE CONTINUOUS HYDROGENATION OF FATS,FATTY ACIDS AND FATTY ACID DERIVATIVES IN THE PRESENCE OF A HETEROGENEOUS CATALYST

摘要

For continuous heterogeneous hydrogenation, fats, fatty acids and/or fatty acid derivatives are brought into contact with hydrogen in the presence of a heterogeneous catalyst dispersed in a liquid phase in a tubular packed reactor, of which the length-to-diameter ratio is >/=10:1, under pressure of from 0.5 to 300 bar and at temperatures of from 60 DEG to 260 DEG C. The reactor is packed with a geometrically regularly arranged elements of a material inert to the components under the reaction conditions, and the hydrogen is passed through the reactor in parallel current or countercurrent to the fatty acid substrate under a gas velocity of from 0.5 to 30 cm/sec., based on the overall cross-section of the reactor. Preferably the catalyst is fixed on an insoluble support and suspended in small quantities of the particular reaction product before being added to the substrate and entering the reactor.