Organic Solvents for Separating Ethyl Acetate-Ethanol by Extractive Distillation

The azeotropic mixture ethyl acetate-ethanol (EA-EtOH) enables effective separation by extractive distillation. The effectiveness of an extractive distillation process depends on the solvent selection, so the single and mixed solvent for separating ethyl acetate-ethanol by extractive distillation were examined. The results showed that the volatility of the ethyl acetate relative to ethanol increased with an increase of the ratio of any given solvent. The selectivity of the mixed solvent is superior to the single solvent. The measured data were correlated well using modified UNIFAC model. Simultaneously, the influence of temperature on solvent selectivity was proposed by using the Clausius-Mosotti equation.