Palladium Catalyst for the Production of Pure Margarine CATALYST AND NEW NON-FILTRATION TECHNOLOGY IMPROVE PRODUCTION AND QUALITY

Abstract

The production of the fatty base for edible margarines by the hydrogenation of vegetable oils is carried out at high temperatures and has serious disadvantages, among them the toxicity of the nickel catalysts and afire-hazardous filtration stage. Here, a novel reactor and a new, active and selective, lowloaded palladium catalyst are described which allow vegetable oil hydrogenation to take place at lower temperatures producing high quality, pure hydrogenated fat, free of catalyst. Under these milder conditions, the thermal decomposition of oils and fats does not form secondary products, and heavy metals from the catalyst do not enter thefinal product. In addition, even lower hydrogenation temperatures can be used with the palladium catalyst, resulting in fat with a low transisomer content. The catalyst has been tested successfully in full-scale production. Using an inertial sepurator in a new reactor, catalyst loss has been eliminated.