Development of a novel MW-VLE model for calculation of vapor–liquid equilibrium under microwave irradiation

Abstract

Microwave (MW) irradiation can intensify the vapor–liquid separation of polar/non-polar binary system mixtures, but its industrialization requires vapor–liquid equilibrium (VLE) data in microwave field. Therefore, a novel MW-VLE model was proposed to predict the VLE data of binary systems in microwave fields by using system thermodynamic properties, dielectric properties, and electric field strength. For modeling, first, the influence of thermodynamic and dielectric properties on microwave-induced relative volatility change (MIRVC) was investigated experimentally in detail. It indicated that increasing the system dielectric loss difference, boiling temperature difference, and decreasing the thermal conductivity can enhance the effect of MIRVC. Then, the model characteristic parameters were obtained by fitting the VLE curves with/without microwave irradiation. Afterwards, the empirical correlation equations of MW-VLE were derived by correlating model characteristic parameters with mentioned above factors and electric field strength. Finally, the model predictions well agreed with the experimental results of PrOH-PP and IPA-EA systems within 10% error, verifying the model accuracy.