Abstract
Deep eutectic solvents (DESs) have high viscosities, but known to be mitigated by addition of suitable co-solvent. The effect of such co-solvent on the extraction efficiency of the hybrid solvent is hardly known. This study examined the effect of ethanol on three choline chloride-based DESs (glyceline, reline, and ethaline) by mixing each in turn with ethanol in various volume proportions. The hybrid solvents were evaluated for the extraction of benzene from n-hexane. Pseudo-ternary liquid–liquid equilibrium data were obtained using the refractive index method at 303 K and 1 atm for the systems, n-hexane (1) + benzene (2) + hybrid solvent (glyceline/ethanol, ethaline/ethanol, reline/ethanol) (3), and used to evaluate distribution coefficient (D) and selectivity (S). Furthermore, the physicochemical properties of the hybrid solvents were also determined. The results indicate increase in selectivity with increasing ethanol addition up to 50% and decrease with further addition. All hybrid solvents with 50% ethanol outperform sulfolane and are suitable replacement for same as green and sustainable extractant for aromatics from aliphatics. The glyceline + 50% ethanol emerged the overall best with 49.73% elevation in selectivity and 41.15% reduction in viscosity relative to the neat glyceline. The finding of this study is expected to fillip the drive for paradigm shift in petrochemical industries.
Highlights
Thermodynamic and transport properties are needed for the design and operation of process and products in diverse areas, more so in Chemical and Petroleum Engineering
Three categories of hybrid solvents were prepared by mixing choline chloride-based deep eutectic solvents with ethanol in various volume proportions to reduce the high viscosity of the neat Deep eutectic solvents (DESs) and enhance their industrial appeal
The hybrid solvents were explored as extractants for the extraction of aromatic from aliphatic (n-hexane)
Summary
Thermodynamic and transport properties are needed for the design and operation of process and products in diverse areas, more so in Chemical and Petroleum Engineering. Using a mixture of glyceline and ethaline in the volume ratio 80:20, respectively, as extractant for separating benzene from n-hexane, Usman et al [21] reported the selectivity value of 422.485. This sub-section presents the liquid–liquid equilibria data/ ternary diagram, distribution coefficients and selectivities for the extraction of benzene from n-hexane using neat ethanol as the extractant.
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