Catalytic epoxidation of oleic acid through in situ hydrolysis for biopolyol formation

The dependency on petroleum-based sources has raised concerns, leading to a focus on studying the production of bio-polyols through the in situ hydrolysis of epoxidized palm oleic acid. Epoxidized palm oleic acid was formulated using performic acid and formed in situ. The Runge-Kutta method in MATLAB enables a kinetic simulation of oxirane oxygen ring degradation throughout the epoxidation process, allowing for the determination of the yield of bio-polyols. The Taguchi method suggests the optimal parameters for bio polyols production, including a hydrogen peroxide/palm oleic acid molar ratio of 1.5:1, a formic acid/palm oleic acid molar ratio of 1.5:1, a reaction temperature of 50 °C, and a stirring speed of 450 rpm. Through kinetic modelling, bio-polyol was successfully produced from palm oleic acid with a reduced number of experimental runs.