In situ epoxidation of rice bran oil via peracids mechanism: optimization and kinetic model

Abstract With increasing demand for eco‐friendly epoxides derived from vegetable oils, recent studies have prioritized developing efficient methods for rice bran oil epoxidation. This research produced epoxidized rice bran oil using in situ generated peracetic acid. The optimal conditions to achieve the highest oxirane content (90%) at 50 min were determined as follows: (1) reaction temperature of 50°C, (2) formic acid‐to‐rice bran oil molar ratio of 3.0, (3) hydrogen peroxide‐to‐rice bran oil molar ratio of 4.0, and (4) catalyst loading of 0.5 g. Furthermore, a kinetic model was developed using MATLAB, incorporating the fourth‐order Runge–Kutta method and genetic algorithm optimization to align with the experimental data. After 100 iterations, the reaction rate constant obtained as follows: =14.58 mol·L −1 ·min −1 , = 0.54 mol·L −1 ·min −1 , = 0.005 mol·L −1 ·min −1 , and = 0.001 mol·L −1 ·min −1 . The presence of epoxide groups in the FTIR spectra of epoxide rice bran oil is confirm at peaks at ~1250 cm −1 and 950 cm −1 . This study transforms rice bran oil into a high‐value product, reduces reliance on petroleum‐based epoxides, and offers valuable insights into reaction kinetics for industrial use.