Phase separation behavior of three common alcohols with methoxy-nonafluorobutane or ethoxy-nonafluorobutane in waterA paper submitted to the Journal of Environmental Engineering and Science.

Abstract

Laboratory experiments are conducted to determine the liquid–liquid phase separation behavior of six three-component systems with each system comprised of a common alcohol (namely ethanol, isopropanol, or methanol), water, and one of two engineered dense nonaqueous phase liquids (DNAPLs) manufactured by the 3M™ Corporation (namely methoxy-nonafluorobutane (HFE-7100) or ethoxy-nonafluorobutane (HFE-7200)). The experimental results are presented on ternary phase diagrams and compared against available published experimental data where tetrachloroethylene (PCE) and (or) trichloroethylene (TCE) is the dense nonaqueous phase liquid (DNAPL). Results show that the two engineered fluids exhibit similar phase separation behavior in the presence of the same alcohol. Furthermore, these engineered fluids exhibit similar phase separation behavior to that of PCE, but relatively dissimilar phase separation behavior to that of TCE.