Effect of ionic liquids as entrainers on the dynamic behavior of ethanol-water extractive columns

Ionic liquids (ILs) have been recently considered as potential entrainers for extractive distillation. The use of ILs may affect the vapor-liquid properties to aid the separation of azeotropic mixtures. In particular, their effectiveness has been observed for ethanol dehydration, showing promising perspectives for their industrial implementation. However, there is still a lack of information about the effect of ILs on the system controllability. The objective of this work is to explore the dynamic implications of the use of two types of ionic liquids on the ethanol dehydration process. An equimolar feed mixture of ethanol and water was considered, and different IL concentrations were tested. The results show that changing the IL concentration affect the degree of stabilization of the product stream, even when smooth dynamic responses were in many cases observed.