Predicting microwave-induced relative volatility changes in binary mixtures using a novel dimensionless number

Abstract

Microwave (MW) irradiation is known to selectively interact with polar molecules in a homogeneously mixed liquid solution and change their relative volatilities; this phenomenon has been observed experimentally in various binary mixtures. However, the lack of theoretical analysis and quantitative modeling hinders the further development of novel MW-assisted separation techniques. A novel dimensionless number ZMW was derived in the present study based on an assumption involving molecular radiators to explore the effect of dielectric and thermodynamic properties of the materials as well as the MW field intensity on the microwave-induced relative volatility change (MIRVC). Moreover, a quantitative correlation was established between MIRVC and ZMW, whose model parameters were determined by fitting experimental data obtained from mixtures under MW irradiation. The correlation was also employed to predict MIRVC in data obtained from previous studies. The error range between the predicted and experimental values was within ±6%, indicating the validity of the proposed quantitative correlation.