Liquid–liquid equilibria in mixtures of formaldehyde, water, methanol, and isoprenol

Abstract

Isoprenol (3-methyl-3-buten-1-ol) is an important intermediate in the chemical industry. It has to be separated from mixtures containing formaldehyde, water, and methanol in the production process. As water and isoprenol are only partially miscible in the liquid phase, these mixtures exhibit a liquid–liquid miscibility gap. Knowledge of this miscibility gap is essential for understanding the isoprenol process; however, only few experimental data and no models are presently available in the literature. Therefore, in the present work, liquid–liquid equilibria in the systems (water + isoprenol), (formaldehyde + water + isoprenol), and (water + methanol + isoprenol) were measured at 278, 293, and 313 K. The new experimental data were used to develop a model of the liquid–liquid equilibrium in mixtures of formaldehyde, water, methanol, and isoprenol, which can now be used in simulation studies of the isoprenol process.