Production of fatty alcohol from palm oil methyl ester

Fatty alcohol is an important raw material for the production of surfactants, and is currently in demand by markets and has a high potential for growth. Moreover, fatty alcohol can be made from methylester that is produced from fats and natural oil. The production of fatty alcohol involved hydrogenation using the suspension method process and methyl ester in palm oil as the raw material. Copper chromite was used as the catalyst for the hydrogenationreaction and the experiment was proceeded in a close system pressure reaction vessel. The reaction was conducted at approximately 150-250oC, 1100-1700 psig, 2-8% catalyst W/V of methyl ester and reaction timefrom 5-20 hr. After the reaction, the products were analysed to check for percent conversion using gas chromatography (GC). The hydrogenation reaction began at 200oC. The best hydrogenation reaction for theproduction of fatty alcohol occurred at 250oC, 1700 psig, 6% catalyst and reaction time of 20 hr, which gave a purity greater than 97%.