Fabrication of Shaping Catalyst SO42- /Sno2-Rc for High Efficient and Continuous Synthesis of Trimethylolpropane Oleate in Fixed Bed Reactor

Trimethylolpropane trioleate (TMPTO), as a bio-lubricant, offers significant advantages over mineral oils, especially in terms of reducing environmental pollution. While produce cost are still the challenges in developing biodegradable lubricants, thereby it's urgent TMP to produce TMPTO economically and environmentally friendly. Herein, a novel shaping catalyst SO42- /SnO2-RC was prepared through press tableting and impregnation methods. Molding conditions of catalyst support and preparation process of SO42- /SnO2-RC catalyst were investigated in detail. The catalytic materials were characterized by various techniques such as XRD, By-IR of adsorbed pyridine, BET, SEM-EDX, acid-base titration. The prepared catalysts were found to have enough mechanical intensity, acid sites of Bronsted and Lewis, by which the esterification reaction of TMP and oleic acid (OA) was catalyzed synergistically. Furthermore, the shaping catalyst SO42- /SnO2-RC was tested in the esterification reaction of TMP and OA to produce TMPTO in the fixed bed reactor. The catalyst presented maximum conversion of 99.7% under optimal reaction conditions such as TMP to OA mole ratio of 1:29, Space velocity of 1.6 h(-1) and reaction temperature of 150 degree celsius, and consecutive esterification experiment of 1000 h in fixed bed reactor exhibits excellent stability of, shaping catalyst SO42- /SnO2-RC. The current work has clearly demonstrated that esterification reaction of TMP and OA in trickle bed can greatly shorten the reaction time and increase the conversion of TMP. This kind of molding solid acid catalyst has potential applications in industrial catalysis.