In Situ Epoxidation of Hybrid Oleic Acid Derived from Waste Palm Cooking Oil and Palm Oil with Applied ZSM-5 Zeolite as Catalyst

The use of renewable resources for producing epoxides as a substitute for petroleum-based sources is a growing trend, and in this regard, several vegetable oils can serve as suitable alternatives. Until now, there has been a lack of research focusing on epoxidized hybrid oleic acid production, which is not fully utilized. Hence, the objective of this study is to investigate the effect process parameters for the epoxidation of hybrid oleic acid derived from a mixture of palm oil and waste cooking oil using an in situ performic acid mechanism. The maximum relative conversion to oxirane achieved was 52% under the following circumstances: stirring speed of 200 rpm, reaction temperature of 85 °C, formic acid/hybrid oleic acid molar ratio of 1.5:1.0, and hydrogen peroxide/hybrid oleic acid molar ratio of 1.5:1.0. Analysis of the results indicated the presence of the oxirane ring, which was detected at a wavenumber of 880 cm⁻¹. Additionally, a mathematical model was developed using MATLAB, implementing the fourth order Runge–Kutta method and particle swarm optimization, to accurately determine the reaction rate that best fitted the experimental data.