Liquid–Liquid Equilibrium Behavior of Ternary Systems Comprising Biodiesel + Glycerol and Triglyceride + Methanol: Experimental Data and Modeling

Abstract

Having a comprehensive knowledge of phase equilibrium is advantageous for industrial simulation and design of chemical processes. For further acquisition of primary data to facilitate the separation and purification of waste oil biodiesel systems, a liquid–liquid equilibrium (LLE) tank is deployed for the ternary system of waste oil biodiesel + methanol + glycerin, thereby enhancing the precision and efficiency of the process. The phase equilibrium system was constructed under the influence of atmospheric pressure at precise temperatures of 303.15 K, 313.15 K, and 323.15 K. The equilibrium components of each substance were analyzed by employing high-temperature gas chromatography, a sophisticated analytical method that enables the identification and quantification of individual components of a sample. Moreover, the ternary liquid–liquid equilibrium data were correlated by implementing the NRTL and UNIQUAC activity coefficient models. Subsequently, the binary interaction parameters of the ternary system were derived by conducting regression analysis. The experimental data demonstrated that the presence of lower methanol content in the system resulted in nearly immiscible biodiesel and glycerol phases, which ultimately facilitated the separation of biodiesel and glycerol. Conversely, with the increase in methanol content, the mutual solubility of biodiesel and glycerol was observed to increase gradually. The results showed that the calculated values of the NRTL and UNIQUAC models aligned well with the experimental values. The root-mean-square deviations of the NRTL and UNIQUAC models at 313.15 K were 2.76% and 3.56%, respectively.