Investigation of the selection of extraction solvent for extracting the n-alkane from diesel by means of solubility parameters theory

Abstract

The solubility parameters (including dispersion coefficient δ d, polarity δ p, and hydrogen bonding δ h) of extraction solvents (like ketones, chlorinated hydrocarbon, ester, alcohol, and ether) and diesel oil components ( n-alkanes and aromatics) were estimated by using the group contribution method. The relationship between the solubility parameters of the solvent and the extraction efficiency of n-alkane from diesel oil was investigated. The results illustrated that the larger the difference between the solvent and n-alkane in the solubility parameters is, the higher is the extraction ratio, for the solvents except alcohols. Nonalkane content of waxpaste removed by the solvents with a dispersion contribution ( f d ) of higher than two-thirds was much less than that by the solvents with a lower f d.