Vapor-Liquid Equilibrium (VLE) Curve for Furfural Purification from Oil Palm Empty Fruit Bunch Hydrolysate Solution with the UNIQUAC Model

Abstract

Furfural is the main Oil Palm Empty Fruit Bunch (OPEFB) hydrolysis product. It can achieve high purity from hydrolysate distillation. Its equipment design can be done by utilizing vapor-liquid equilibrium (VLE) data to achieve high furfural purity. The purpose of this research is to develop a Vapor-Liquid Equilibrium (VLE) curve for furfural purification from Oil Palm Empty Bunch hydrolysate solution with the Universal Quasi Chemical (UNIQUAC) model. Distillation data is obtained from literature and examined on the Universal Quasi Chemical (UNIQUAC) model. Calculations for average deviation and R2 are also made to show the accuracy of the model quantitatively. The modeled VLE curve indicates that the UNIQUAC model and the literature distillation pattern are not ideal, and the UNIQUAC curve pattern closely follows the literature pattern. The average deviation and R2 values for this UNIQUAC model are 0.0954 and 0.297, respectively. These values are still acceptable and show that UNIQUAC can be used as useful model distillation data of furfural and water as the representatives of an OPEFB hydrolysate solution.