Thermodynamic and Topological Analysis of Phase Diagrams of Quaternary Systems with Internal Singular Points

Abstract

A review of the literature published in Russia and abroad on the experimental studies of phase equilibria, methods for analyzing and predicting phase diagram structures, and simulating problems of the vapor–liquid equilibrium (VLE) of quaternary systems containing internal singular points is presented. A complete set of parameters that adequately describe the liquid–vapor and liquid–liquid equilibrium is obtained for the following four systems: acetone–chloroform–ethanol–water, acetone–chloroform–propanol-2–water, chloroform–ethanol–cyclohexane–water, and ethyl acetate–methyl ethyl ketone–cyclohexane–propanol-2. The methodology for determining the structure of the VLE diagram and predicting the presence of an internal azeotrope in the systems under study and in a model system that contains binary azeotropes and a quaternary azeotrope is illustrated. Possible ways for evolutionary changes in the structure of the VLE diagram with a variation in the pressure are shown, and the Poincare indices of boundary single azeotropes and a double tangential azeotrope are determined.