Epoxidation of methyl oleate in a rotor-stator spinning disc reactor

The intensification of the epoxidation of methyl oleate with hydrogen peroxide and formic acid in a rotor-stator spinning disc reactor (RSSDR) was studied in dependence of temperature, rotational disc speed and reactor throughput. The application of TiO₂ as heterogeneous catalyst immobilized with Nafion^® as adhesive on the rotor disc was also examined. Optimum values for the regarded parameters with respect to conversion and yield were 80 °C, 1000 min⁻¹ and 50 mL min⁻¹. The use of TiO₂ as catalyst yielded no beneficial results as opposed to a plain steel rotor. A significant increase in yield and conversion were achieved with the RSSDR in comparison to comparative batch experiments. The average rates of epoxide production in the RSSDR are about a factor four higher than the batch experiments. In comparison with literature results of similar reaction systems, but different reactors, in particular microreactors, the RSSDR shows values in the same order of magnitude and even outperforms catalyst coated microreactor systems. This study shows that the RSSDR with its very good heat and mass transfer properties allows to significantly intensify epoxidation of fatty acid methyl esters.