(63l) Study of Ionic Liquids As Entrainers for the Extractive Distillation of N-Propanol and N-Propyl Acetate Binary Azeotropic Mixture and the Isobaric VLE Studies of the System

Distillation is a widely accepted technique for the separation of binary liquid mixtures. Separation by simple distillation is not possible for binary mixtures that form azeotropes. One of the commonly used methods to separate azeotropes is extractive distillation. It is the process of adding an entrainer that can alter the relative volatility of the mixture and thereby breaking the azeotropic point. Ionic liquids on account of their physiochemical properties as well as the recyclability have been used as a preferred replacement for the conventional entrainers.Extractive distillation with ionic liquids has the advantages of both liquid solvent (easy operation) and solid salt(high separation ability). The corrosion and dissolution problems by using inorganic salts can be rectified by these non-volatile, chemically stable, high electrical conductive molten salts.

 The azeotropic system under consideration in the present study is n-propanol - n-propyl acetate mixture. These compounds which constitute the products/reactants of esterification reaction of n-propanol form a minimum boiling azeotrope at 94.7°C. n-propyl acetate has been included in a list of volatile acetates as an ecologically benign CFC-free solvent for aerosol sprays. 

Vapour liquid equilibrium(VLE) measurements of  n-propanol and n-propyl acetate are performed at atmospheric pressure in a modified Othmer still which is a continuous distillation still in which vapour phase is recirculated. The most suitable ionic liquids for shifting of azeotropic composition of the system are selected using COSMO-RS model with suitable combinations of anions and cations. The isobaric VLE of the system with [EMIM][HSO₄] is obtained and compared with the existing data. The influence of alkyl chain length on the performance of ionic liquids is also analysed with regard to the previous studies. The effect of polarity is the most important factor on the behaviour of ionic liquid solvation in alcohols.Experimental VLE data  were correlated using modified UNIFAC model.