Liquid–Liquid Equilibria for the Ternary System Water + Benzyl Alcohol + Methylbenzene at (303.2 to 343.2) K

Liquid–liquid equilibrium (LLE) data for the ternary system water + benzyl alcohol + methylbenzene were measured at (303.2 to 343.2) K under atmospheric pressure. The Othmer–Tobias and the Hand correlations were used to check the reliability of the experimental LLE data. The distribution coefficient and separation factor were used to investigate the ability of water to extract benzyl alcohol from methylbenzene. The results show that the distribution coefficient of benzyl alcohol increases with the increasing mass fraction of water in the aqueous phase. The experimental data were correlated by both the nonrandom two-liquid (NRTL) and the universal quasichemical (UNIQUAC) activity coefficient models. The relevant model interaction parameters were regressed by data fitting. The model calculated results show good agreement with the measured data. The obtained interaction parameters can be used in the calculation of LLE for the ternary system water + benzyl alcohol + methylbenzene as well as for the design and optimization of the related separation process.