Liquid-liquid Equilibrium Extraction of Aromatic Compounds from Model Hydrocarbon Mixtures for Separation of Cracked Oils

Model hydrocarbon mixtures, consisting of alkene or alkane and/or aromatic components, were utilized as feed oils with methanol, furfural or sulfolane as solvents to evaluate solvent extraction for the separation of aromatic components from cracked oils. Aromatic components were selectively extracted relative to alkane or alkene components with all solvents. The distribution coefficients increased in the order of alkane, alkene and aromatic components. Among the aromatic components, the distribution coefficients of tri cyclic components were the highest, followed by those for di and mono cyclic components. For each aromatic components of the same number of benzene rings, the distribution coefficients generally decreased with the carbon number in the molecule. The separation selectivities of aromatic components relative to nonane were higher with sulfolane than those with the other solvents, and sulfolane has the ability to enhance separations among aromatic components.