Vapor-liquid equilibrium of 3-ethoxy-1,2-propanediol + water/ethanol/diethyl ether/glycerol/1,2-propanediol at different pressures

Abstract

The large availability of glycerol on the market and EU directives in the field of automotive fuels prompt Eni S.p.A to develop a technology for producing biofuels from glycerol. This work focuses on determining isobaric vapor-liquid equilibrium data at different pressures of binary systems constituted by 3-ethoxy-1,2-propanediol, an intermediate product, and some of the other compounds involved in the reactions: water, ethanol, 1,2-propanediol, diethyl ether and glycerol. Moreover, the vapor pressure curve of 3-ethoxy-1,2-propanediol was determined at different temperatures. Finally, different thermodynamic models (UNIFAC, UNIQUAC, NRTL and Wilson), were tested against the experimental data to analyze their possible use when designing separation processes of 3-ethoxy-1,2-propanediol.