Volumetric properties under pressure for the binary system ethanol + toluene

Abstract

The density of the asymmetrical binary system composed of ethanol and toluene has been measured under pressure using a vibrating tube densimeter. The measurements have been performed for nine different compositions including the pure compounds at eight temperatures in the range 283.15–353.15 K and ten isobars up to 45 MPa. The uncertainty in the measured densities is estimated to be 0.1 kg m −3. The measured data has been used to study the behavior and influence of temperature, pressure and composition on the isothermal compressibility, the isobaric thermal expansion, and the excess molar volume. At several temperatures the isobaric thermal expansion shows an non-monotonical behavior versus composition, whereas the excess molar volumes reveal a complex sigmoid behavior. These results have been interpreted as changes in the free-volume and as the formation and weakening of the molecular interactions. The VLE behavior of this binary system within the considered temperature range is represented satisfactory by the perturbed-chain statistical association fluid theory (PC-SAFT) equation of state with a single interaction parameter, although no cross association between ethanol and toluene is taken into account. The densities of this binary system (pure compounds and mixtures) are satisfactory predicted by PC-SAFT with an overall AAD of 0.8%, but the behavior of the excess molar volume is not described correctly.