Study on the Kinetics of Epoxidation Reaction of RBD Palm Olein

Abstract. This research aimed at studying the effect of reaction time, temperature and the type of catalyst on oxirane number and determining reaction kinetics data. There were two types of catalysts used were bentonite and sulfuric acid (H2SO4). The epoxidation reaction was done in-situ using hydrogen peroxide, acetic acid and benzene with bentonite and H2SO4 into the RBD palm olein to form epoxidized RBD palm olein. The main equipment used in this research was a 500 mL three-necked flask, equipped with a reflux condeser, thermometer, water bath and magnetic stirrer. The product was analysed of % of oxirane using a titration method. The results of this research showd that bentonite catalysts was optimally working at the temperature of 700C for 4 hours with an oxirane level of 1.02%, while H2SO4 was optimally working at the temperature of 600C for 3 hours with oxirane level of 2.31%.

Keywords: RBD palm olein, catalyst, epoxidation, oxirane number, kinetics of reaction