(126c) 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.