Water → Sodium Behenate

Participants

Reaction Steps

In an amount of 87.6 kg of behenic acid (Edenor C22-85R, trade name, Henkel Co.), 423 L of distilled water, 49.2 L of 5 mol/L aqueous solution of NaOH and 120 L of tert-butyl alcohol were mixed and allowed to react at 75° C. for one hour with stirring to obtain a solution of sodium behenate. Separately, 206.2 L of an aqueous solution containing 40.4 kg of silver nitrate (pH 4.0) was prepared and kept at 10° C. A mixture of 635 L of distilled water and 30 L of tert-butyl alcohol contained in a reaction vessel kept at 30° C. was added with the whole volume of the aforementioned sodium behenate solution and the whole volume of the aqueous silver nitrate solution with sufficient stirring at constant flow rates over the periods of 93 minutes and 15 seconds and 90 minutes, respectively. In this operation, they were added in such a manner that only the aqueous silver nitrate solution should be added for 11 minutes after starting the addition of the aqueous silver nitrate solution. Then, the addition of the sodium behenate solution was started so that only the sodium behenate solution could be added for 14 minutes and 15 seconds after finishing the addition of the aqueous silver nitrate solution. In this operation, the outside temperature was controlled so that the temperature in the reaction vessel could become 30° C. and the liquid temperature should be constant. The piping of the addition system for the sodium behenate solution was warmed by circulating warmed water outside a double pipe, and temperature was controlled such that the liquid temperature at the outlet orifice of the addition nozzle should become 75° C. The piping of the addition system for the aqueous silver nitrate solution was maintained by circulating cold water outside a double pipe. The addition position of the sodium behenate solution and the addition position of the aqueous silver nitrate solution were arranged symmetrically with respect to the stirring axis as the center, and the positions are controlled to be at heights for not contacting with the reaction mixture.

Provenance & Evidence