278 The Philippine Journal of Science 192s 



suspended in a small amount of oil, is pumped in. The cir- 

 culating or agitating device is set in motion, and hydrogen gas 

 then allowed to enter the oil. The progress of hydrogen absorp- 

 tion is ascertained by testing samples for the melting point. 

 When the desired degree of saturation has been attained the 

 oil is filtered through a press to eliminate the catalyst. The 

 same catalyst is used a number of times, depending upon the 

 quality of product desired. 



A review of the literature 2 on this subject indicates that 

 nickel is one of the best metallic catalysts and, when employed 

 in hydrogenating oils, a concentration of about 2 per cent is 

 commonly used. Increase in the percentage of nickel catalyst 

 tends to increase the velocity of hydrogen absorption. The most- 

 appropriate temperature for reducing a nickel catalyst, before 

 using it in hydrogenating oils, is about 300°. The catalyst 

 appears to work best when supported on some porous material 

 like infusorial earth, which presents a large active surface of 

 finely divided metal. The most-satisfactory temperature for 

 hydrogenating oils is about 180°, and the velocity of hydrogena- 

 tion is accelerated by introducing the hydrogen gas into the 

 oil under pressure. 



Very little has been written concerning the complete hydro- 

 genation of vegetable oils with a nickel catalyst. Ellis mentions 

 a few instances where oils have been almost completely hydro- 

 genated or reduced to products which gave exceedingly low 

 iodine values. Cotton-seed oil was reduced with a nickel cata- 

 lyst by Normann and Pungs 3 until the resulting product had an 

 iodine value of only 3.85. Norman and Hugel' obtained a 

 sample of hydrogenated castor oil that had an iodine value of 

 4.8, and Boomer 5 reports a sample of coconut oil that showed 

 an iodine value of 1. Olive, almond, peanut, sesame, poppy, 

 and linseed oils were completely hydrogenated by Mannich and 

 Thiele, 6 but they used 2 per cent palladium as a catalyst. 



In view of the apparent scarcity of data on this subject we 

 thought it might, perhaps, be of interest to hydrogenate com- 



1 Ellis, C. E., The Hydrogenation of Oils (1919); Henderson, G. G., 

 Catalysis in Industrial Chemistry (1919) ; Maxted, E. B., Catalytic Hydro- 

 genation and Reduction (1919) ; Rideal, E. K., and Taylor H. S., Catalysis 

 in Theory and Practice (1919). 



* Ellis, C. E., The Hydrogenation of Oils (1919) 201. 

 4 Ibid. (1919) 284. 

 ibid. (1919) 290. 

 Ibid. (1919) 310. 



