Measurement & correlation of isobaric vapor-liquid equilibrium (VLE) data of methyl tert‑butyl ether (MTBE) + acetic acid (AA) system

Abstract

Acetic acid (AA) is extensively used as a commodity chemical in industrial processes and its separation from aqueous solutions is a critical aspect of industrial processes. Methyl tert‑butyl ether (MTBE) is one of the most promising solvents for separating pure acetic acid from its aqueous solution via extraction. To recover MTBE solvent form extract phase, VLE data is required. An isobaric VLE study of MTBE + AA using an ebulliometer in the range of 60–90 kPa is reported in this article. Excess Gibbs energy models such as Wilson, NRTL, and UNIQUAC were used to correlate VLE data. The calculated BIPs were found suitable for presenting the VLE data in all pressure range and no azeotrope formation was observed. Average absolute deviation in temperature for Wilson, NRTL, and UNIQUAC models was reported. Redlich and Kister's area test and Wisniak's L–W test were used to check the thermodynamic consistency of the experimental data.