Liquid-liquid equilibrium of a ternary system of water plus ethanol plus benzene or furfural in a micro-extractor: experimental investigation and thermodynamic modeling

This study investigated liquid-liquid equilibrium of a ternary system of water+ ethanol+ benzene/furfural in a micro-scale reactor. Experiments were performed inside a T-shaped micro-mixer and then inside a microtube with a diameter of 0.8 mm at a residence time of 30 s. The variables of temperature (298.15 K and 313.15 K) and solvent (benzene/furfural) to feed (70 wt. % of water + 30 wt. % of ethanol) ratio were investigated between a range of 0.33 ml/ml to 3.00ml/ml. Based on the results, the optimal conditions for obtaining a suitable distribution coefficient and selectivity were achieved when using benzene as solvent at a temperature of 298.15 K with a benzene/feed ratio of 1.00 ml/ml. The experiments were carried out within different residence times (from 15 to 90 s) and using different types of micromixer (T-shaped and Y-shaped). The maximum distribution coefficient and selectivity were obtained using the T-shaped micro-mixer at a residence time of 60 s and also using the Y-shaped micro-mixer at a residence time of 75 s. Therefore, the performance of the T-shaped micro-mixer was better than Y-shaped micro-mixer. Finally, the data obtained from the liquid-liquid equilibrium system of water+ ethanol+ benzene/furfural were studied using NRTL and UNIQUAC models. The results showed the high accuracy of both models; the obtained RSMD of the NRTL and UNIQUAC models were 0.0067 and 0.0124, respectively.