Liquid-liquid equilibria measurements for ternary system of hexadecane+1,3,5-trimethylbenzene plus N-methyl-2-pyrrolidone

In this paper, experimental data on phase equilibria of the ternary system: hexadecane (cetane) + 1,3,5-trimethylbenzene ( mesitylene) + N-methyl-2-pyrrolidone (NMP) were measured over a temperature range of (293.2 to 323.2) K and at atmospheric pressure in order to evalute the NMP, as an extractant agent, for process engineering application such as extractive distillation and solvent extraction. Such a system is found in the extraction of aromatics in the production of middle distillate. The system studied exhibits type I liquid-liquid phase diagram. The liquid-liquid equilibria (LLE) results are reported, and the distribution coefficients as well as selectivities are discussed. The effect of temperature and solute concentration in the feed upon solubility, distribution coefficient, and selectivity are investigated experimentally and theoretically. The ability of NRTL and UNIQUAC models to predict LLE was evaluated. The experimental results of the studied system were regressed to estimate the interaction parameters between each of the three pairs of components using the two models as a function of temperature. Both models satisfactorily correlate the experimental data, and they are equally the same.