Macroscopic kinetics modelling of liquid liquid reaction system: Epoxidation of fatty acid methyl esters

In industry, mass transfer limitation is a major and widespread problem in most of vegetable oil epoxidation reactors. To improve the quality of products and the efficiency of production, it is essential to understand the law of mass transfer in the epoxidation reaction system. In present work, epoxidation of fatty acid methyl esters with performic acid generated in situ was studied in a stirred vessel at 50-80 degrees C. At first, the Sauter mean diameter (D-32) was determined and correlated, the correlation can predict the D-32 evolution of the reaction. Then, individual experiments were performed to separately determine the intrinsic kinetic parameters and the mass transfer parameters. Finally, a macroscopic kinetic model was developed, which can well describe the effect of droplet size on the reaction. Noteworthy, the mass transfer limitation was significantly increased when reaction temperature rises to 80 degrees C.