Hydrogenation of fatty acids using a promoted supported nickel catalyst
The invention is directed to a process for the hydrogenation of unsaturated fatty acids to produce saturated fatty acids, said process comprising hydrogenating the unsaturated fatty acid in the presence of hydrogen and a supported nickel catalyst, said supported nickel catalyst comprising an oxidic support, 5 to 80 wt. % of nickel, calculated as atomic nickel on the weight of the catalyst, 0.1 to 10 wt. % of a copper promoter, calculated as atomic copper on the weight of the catalyst and 1 to 10 wt. % of a group II metal, calculated as metallic oxide on the weight of the catalyst.
1. A process for the hydrogenation of unsaturated fatty acids to produce saturated fatty acids, said process comprising hydrogenating the unsaturated fatty acid in the presence of hydrogen and a supported nickel catalyst, said supported nickel catalyst comprising an oxidic support, 5 to 80 wt. % of nickel, calculated as atomic nickel on the weight of the catalyst, 0.1 to 10 wt. % of a copper promoter, calculated as atomic copper on the weight of the catalyst and 1 to 10 wt. % of a group II metal, calculated as metallic oxide on the weight of the catalyst.
2. The process of claim 1 , wherein the catalyst comprises 25 to 80 wt. % of nickel, preferably >30 wt. %, and even more preferably >60 wt. %, calculated as atomic nickel on the weight of the catalyst.
3. The process of claim 1 , wherein the catalyst comprises 0.5 to 5 wt. % of a copper promoter, preferably 1.5 to 5 wt. %, calculated as atomic copper on the weight of the catalyst.
4. The process of claim 1 , wherein the support is an oxidic support, the support preferably selected from silica, alumina, silica-alumina, titania, zirconia and combinations thereof.
5. The process of claim 4 , wherein the oxidic support material of said catalyst is silica.
6. The process of claim 1 , wherein said catalyst comprises 1 to 90 wt. % silica, preferably 5 to 70 wt. %, more preferably >10 to <65 wt. %, calculated on the weight of the catalyst.
7. The process of claim 1 , wherein the catalyst has an average particle size of 0.1 to 50 μm.
8. The process of claim 1 , wherein the group II metal is selected from magnesium, barium, calcium and strontium.
9. The process of claim 8 , wherein the group II metal is magnesium.
10. The process of claim 1 , wherein the catalyst is suspended in droplets, wherein the droplets form a protective coating layer effective in preventing oxidation of the catalyst, said protective coating layer preferably comprises of a fatty substance.
11. The process of claim 1 , wherein the hydrogenation is carried out at a temperature between 100 and 400° C.
12. The process of claim 1 , wherein the hydrogenation is carried out at a hydrogen pressure between 3 and 150 bar.
13. The process of claim 1 , wherein the supported nickel catalyst comprises >10 wt. % silica, calculated on the weight of the catalyst, >60 wt. % of nickel, calculated as atomic nickel on the weight of the catalyst, 1.5 to 5 wt. % of a copper promoter, calculated as atomic copper on the weight of the catalyst and 1 to 10 wt. % of magnesium, calculated as MgO on the weight of the catalyst.
14. The process of claim 13 , wherein the catalyst is suspended in droplets, wherein the droplets form a protective coating layer effective in preventing oxidation of the catalyst, said protective coating layer preferably comprises of a fatty substance.
15. The process of claim 1 , wherein the hydrogenation is carried out in a fatty acid slurry containing the catalyst.
16. The process of claim 14 , wherein the hydrogenation is carried out in a fatty acid slurry containing the catalyst.