Correlation of (liquid + liquid) equilibrium of systems including ionic liquids

Abstract

Ionic liquids are neoteric, environmentally friendly solvents (since they do not produce emissions) composed of large organic cations and relatively small inorganic anions. They have favorable physical properties, such as negligible volatility and wide range of liquid existence. Moreover, many different cations and anions can be used to synthesize ionic liquid, so the properties can be designed by the use of selected combinations of anions and cations. (Liquid + liquid) equilibrium (LLE) data for systems including ionic liquids, although essential for the design and operation of separation processes, are still scarce. However, some recent studies have presented ternary LLE data involving several ionic liquids and such organic compounds as alkanes, alkenes, alkanols, water, ethers and aromatics. In this work, LLE data for 24 ternary systems including ionic liquids from the literature are correlated by using the NRTL model for the activity coefficient. The results are very satisfactory, with rms deviations of about 1.4%.