Dhoni Hartanto, Boelo Schuur, Matthijs Ammerlaan, Anton A. Kiss, André B. de Haan
In this work, dimethyl isosorbide (DMI) and 1-butylpyrrolidin-2-one (NBP), as biobased and greener organic solvents, were used for the first time as entrainers in extractive distillation to separate a close-boiling mixture of methylcyclohexane and toluene. Vapor–liquid equilibrium (VLE) data were collected for pseudoternary mixtures consisting of methylcyclohexane and toluene in the presence of DMI and NBP at various entrainer-to-feed ratios (E/F) and pressures. The VLE measurements were conducted by using a Fischer Labodest VLE602 ebulliometer, and the thermodynamic consistency of the data was verified by using the Van Ness test. Both DMI and NBP were found to increase the relative volatility of methylcyclohexane to toluene, successfully eliminating close-boiling behavior. Compared to benchmark entrainers, both outperformed 1-methylpyrrolidin-2-one (NMP) and sulfolane under certain conditions. In comparison with other green entrainers, DMI and NBP showed similar performance to gamma-valerolactone (GVL) and Cyrene under specific conditions. The VLE data were accurately correlated by using the nonrandom two-liquid (NRTL) model. © 2025 The Authors. Published by American Chemical Society
Department of Chemical Engineering, Delft University of Technology, Van der Maasweg 9, Delft, 2629 HZ, Netherlands; Department of Chemical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Universitas Negeri Semarang, Kampus Sekaran, Gunungpati, Semarang, 50229, Indonesia; Sustainable Process Technology, Faculty of Science and Technology, University of Twente, Enschede, 7500 AE, Netherlands
