Entrainers selection and vapour-liquid equilibrium measurements for isopropyl acetate with propyl propionate, butyl propionate, and butyl butyrate at 101.3 kPa

Extractive distillation with propyl propionate, butyl propionate and butyl butyrate as extractive solvents is adopted to separate the binary azeotrope isopropyl alcohol + isopropyl acetate. Through the relative volatility and x - y diagrams, the influence of the three entrainers on the vapour-liquid equilibrium (VLE) behaviour is also explored. The isobaric VLE data for the binary systems of isopropyl acetate + propyl propionate/ butyl propionate/butyl butyrate are determined at 101.3 kPa with a modified Rose type recirculating still, and the determined VLE data of the three systems containing isopropyl acetate are checked to be thermodynamically consistent according to the Herington and van Ness test. Finally, the NRTL, UNIQUAC and Wilson activity coefficient models are employed to correlate the measured data. After that, the corresponding binary interaction parameters for the investigated systems are obtained, which can provide a basis for the simulation and optimization of the extractive distillation process.