The Binary Vapor-Liquid Phase Equilibrium of Citronella Oil under High Vacuum

Citronellal, citronellol and geraniol are the main components of the natural plant citronella oil, and their vapor-liquid phase equilibrium relationship is the critical data to separate, purify the citronella oil and design rectifying column. Citronella oil is a thermo-sensitive material, so the separation under high vacuum conditions could lower its boiling point and maintain its quality. This paper adopts the precise vapor-liquid phase equilibrium instrument to collect the binary system of citronellal-citronellol, citronellal-geraniol and citronellol-geraniol with the absolute pressure of 1.2kPa. Meanwhile, the corresponding phase equilibrium diagrams are drawn, which provide data support for the distillation of citronella oil.