Cosolvents Screening and Data Association for the 1-Octene Hydration Reaction System

Abstract

This paper studied the thermodynamic properties of the 1-octene hydration reaction and screened cosolvents to enhance water–oil mutual solubility, thereby increasing the reaction rate. Using COSMOtherm, the solubilization effects of five cosolvents (acetonitrile, isophorone, 1,4-dioxane, methanol, and acetone) were simulated. The liquid–liquid equilibrium (LLE) of 1-octene+water+1,4-dioxane and 1-octene+water+isophorone systems was simulated at 308.15–348.15 K under 101.3 kPa, followed by experimental validation. Results showed that higher temperatures improved solubilization, confirming COSMOtherm’s accuracy. The NRTL and UNIQUAC models were used to correlate LLE experimental data, demonstrating excellent fitting for both systems. High correlation between regression and experimental results confirmed the accuracy of the data, with both models effectively describing the systems.