DEVELOPMENT OF KINETIC MODEL FOR ADSORPTION OF CAROTENOIDS ON ACTIVATED CLAY IN THE BLEACHING OF PALM OIL
In this work the mechanism of adsorption for the bl eaching of palm oil using activated clay as adsorbe nt was studied. Tetraoxosulphate (VI) acid was used to activate a l ocal (Inyi) clay obtained from Oji River province in Enugu State. The sample of palm oil used in the study was obtained from Akpugo in the same state and was bleached with the activa ted clay. The oil was characterized before and after bleaching and the re sults used in the study. It was observed that acid addition increases the bleaching efficiency of activated clay. The mechanism of pal m oil bleaching with the activated clay was develop ed from the results obtained. The stability of the oil was measured in terms of F ree Fatty Acid (FFA) 0.12%, Peroxide Value (PV) 3.0 m.eq/kg, Anisidine Value(AV) 4.55 m.eq/kg, Iodine Value (IV) 48, Iron (Fe) 4.3 x 10 3 (Ppm), and Phosphorous content 0.015 (Ppm), all of which were compared with those of the American Oil Chemist Society (AOC S) standard values.