Using Catalysts to Manufacture Margarine

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         Uses of inorganic substances

Uses of inorganic substances

How nickel is used as a catalyst

Nickel is on the first row of the metal group on the periodic table at number 8, its periodic arrangement is as follow:  4s2 3d8

A catalyst is substance that changes the chemical rate of reaction; it usually changes it by speeding it up

Hydrocarbons are compounds that only contain hydrogen atoms and carbon atoms that have been joined together by some chemical bonds. The most common types of hydrocarbons are alkenes. A Saturated hydrocarbon is when the hydrocarbon only contains a single bond between carbon atoms. Alkenes are hydrocarbons that contain at least one double bond in at least two carbon atoms, this that is why they are unsaturated.

In the manufacture of margarine, people use nickel in hydrogenation of vegetable oils. Hydrogenation is when you add hydrogen to substances. Unsaturated vegetables oils can react with hydrogen at the temperature of 60 degrees if there is a nickel catalyst present.

In the manufacture of margarine, nickel catalyst is used as a hydrogenation process to get the right texture on the product (margarine). For example if you want a hard texture, you can raise the melting point of the oil used by hydrogenating it with the nickel catalyst. Factors like the temperature or the amount of time it takes for the hydrogen to go through the oil should be carefully controlled. This is so that most of the carbon-carbon double bonds are hydrogenated.

What are the properties and uses of nickel?

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Nickel is a good conductor of heat and electricity, it can be beaten and turned in a thin sheet. It has also a great resistance to rusting and corrosion which means that it does not react with oxygen in the air to form any kind of metal oxide.

Nickel when used with other elements is used in many ways for various things starting from cookware equipment, mobile phone, transport, building even power generation machines and many more. Its uses are spread because it has a great toughness, good strength at high and low temperatures, and it resistance to corrosion ...

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