The effect of trichloroethylene in the hydrogenation of soybean and cottonseed oils

Summary

It has been found that at concentrations greater than. 003% trichloroethylene retards the rate of hydrogenation of vegetable oils without any apparent effect upon selectivity of hydrogenation. However it is not an irreversible catalyst poison, and oils containing relatively large amounts of trichloroethylene have been successfully hydrogenated in the laboratory and pilot plant.

In those cases where the concentration in the refined oil was sufficient to inhibit the rate of hydrogenation, it was possible to increase the rate considerably by means of additional purging of the converter, addition of extra quantities of catalyst, or the addition of normal quantities of catalyst in divided portions. These are considered to be emergency measures inasmuch as it is believed that efficiently operated solvent extraction plants should produce stripped oils which, after refining, can be hydrogenated under normal conditions without difficulty.

It has been demonstrated that each of the three most common methods of refining crude oils. greatly reduces the concentration of trichloroethylene in the oils so that crudes containing excessive amounts of added trichloroethylene hardened with little or no difficulty after being refined by any one of the three methods. *** DIRECT SUPPORT *** A03O2061 00003