Epoxidation of fatty acids and vegetable oils assisted by microwaves catalyzed by a cation exchange resin

Epoxidation of oleic acid and cottonseed oil was conducted in a semibatch reactor with in-situ-formed percarboxylic acid (peracetic acid or perpropionic acid), using hydrogen peroxide as an oxidizing agent and carboxylic acid (acetic acid or propionic acid) as oxygen carriers. Amberlite IR-120 was implemented as the catalyst. The system was comprised of a loop reactor, where the mixture was pumped through a single-mode cavity in which microwave irradiation was introduced. A heat exchanger was integrated into the system to replace microwave heating, to compare the results obtained via microwave heating versus conventional heating. The catalyst loading effect was studied, as well as the influence of microwave irradiation and the implementation of the SpinChem rotating bed reactor (RBR), in hopes of decreasing the influence of the internal mass transfer. The application of microwave irradiation results in an improvement of the reaction yield in the absence of a catalyst.