Journal of Oil Palm Research Vol. 27 (4) December 2015, p. 366-376

OPTIMISATION ON SYNTHESIS OF ACRYLATED EPOXIDISED PALM OLEIN USING RESPONSE SURFACE METHODOLOGY

KOSHEELA DEVI, P P*; HAZIMAH, A H*; TUAN NOOR MAZNEE, T I*; YEONG, S K*; HOONG, S S*; KUSHAIRI, A* AND CHOO, Y M*

ABSTRACT

Acrylated epoxidised palm olein (AEPO) was synthesised from epoxidised palm olein (EPOo), acrylic acid, hydroquinone and AMC-2® catalyst. Optimisation of the synthesis in terms of the reaction parameters was performed using so-called response surface methodology (RSM). The reaction parameters selected as independent variables were percentage of catalyst; molar ratio between EPOo and acrylic acid; reaction temperature and reaction time. The percentage conversion of epoxy ring to acrylate group was designated as the dependent response. The central composite rotatable design (CCRD) at five coded levels with four factors was used. The quadratic model was used to analyse the experimental data obtained. The quadratic model was significant at a 95% confidence level with Prob>F of less than 0.0001; the regression coefficient value, R2 was 0.9561 and lack-of-fit of 0.0646 as obtained by using analysis of variance (ANOVA). A percentage of AMC-2® catalyst of 1.0%; molar ratio between EPOo and acrylic acid of 1.0:1.2, reaction temperature of 120°C, and reaction time of 135 min were established as the optimum parameters in order to convert EPOo to AEPO at mild reaction conditions. The reaction temperature and the time for the acrylation reaction were substantially reduced to 75% with the incorporation of AMC-2® catalyst compared to the acrylation reaction in the absence of catalyst. The results also proved that RSM can be employed efficiently for the optimisation of the synthesis of AEPO catalysed by AMC-2® , as the percentage of conversion AEPO obtained with the optimum conditions was 99.26% adequate according to the predicted value by the software. The optimum reaction parameter can be used to scale up the acrylation reaction of EPOo to AEPO.

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* Malaysian Palm Oil Board, 6 Persiaran Institusi, Bandar Baru Bangi, 43000 Kajang, Selangor, Malaysia. E-mail: kosheela @mpob.gov.my