Liquid-liquid equilibria of the ternary systems water + C1 – C3 alcohols + dimethyl adipate at 298.15 K and atmospheric pressure: Experimental data and modeling

Abstract

The aim of this study was to examine the possibility of using a green organic solvent, dimethyl adipate (DMA), as a separation agent in the extraction of different alcohols from aqueous solutions. For that purpose, the liquid–liquid equilibria (LLE) of four ternary systems were analytically determined at 298.15 K and atmospheric pressure using stirred and thermo-regulated cells: {water + methanol + dimethyl adipate (DMA)}, {water + ethanol + DMA}, {water + 1-propanol + DMA}, {water + 2-propanol + DMA}. Phase diagrams for these four ternary systems were obtained by determining a binodal curve and tie-lines data using a visual cloud-point method, but also gas chromatography. Distribution coefficients and separation factors were calculated for the immiscibility region. Hand and Othmer-Tobias correlations were used to examine the reliability of the tie-line data. In addition, the experimental ternary LLE data were correlated with the UNIversal QUAsiChemical (UNIQUAC) activity coefficient models. The obtained results showed that DMA is a suitable candidate for the extraction of methanol, ethanol, 1-propanol, and 2-propanol from water. With some alcohols, this potential is more noticeable than with others. The potential of DMA as a separation agent is increasing in the following sequence: methanol < ethanol < 2-propanol < 1-propanol, and that also could be noticed from the selectivity values that also increase in this sequence. The UNIQUAC model proved as successful in correlating the LLE data.