Ternary liquid–liquid equilibria for 2-phenylethyl acetate + 2-phenylethanol + water and 2-phenylethyl acetate + acetic acid + water at atmospheric pressure

Abstract

2-Phenylethyl acetate can normally be produced by the esterification of 2-phenylethanol with acetic acid via a reactive distillation process. The multiphase coexistence behavior is a component of esterification and is important for the design of the reactive distillation process. In this report, the ternary liquid–liquid equilibrium (LLE) results of 2-phenylethyl acetate + 2-phenylethanol + water and 2-phenylethyl acetate + acetic acid + water at 303.15, 323.15, and 343.15 K under atmospheric pressure are presented. The ternary LLE data regression results were obtained using NRTL and UNIQUAC models with an absolute average deviation (AAD%) value of less than 2 %. The determined binary interaction parameters were verified by the GUI-MATLAB tool. Furthermore, the results predicted by the UNIFAC model for the investigated ternary LLE systems are acceptable.

Keywords

• Acetic acid
• 2-Phenylethanol
• 2-Phenylethyl acetate