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Description

Aromatic hydrocarbons are a valuable product in many industrial processes. Separating aromatic compounds from solutions of mixed hydrocarbons is notoriously expensive and inefficient, particularly in solutions with less than 20 wt% aromatics. Ionic liquids (ILs) are salts that remain liquid at room temperature and exhibit extremely promising properties such as negligible vapor pressure and high thermal stability. The tunable nature of ILs, arising from the interchangeability of ions, is a promising attribute for the use of ILs in difficult separation processes. This study involves the separation and adsorption between aromatic and aliphatic compounds with various ILs to study the selectivity and loading capacity of four ILs. The Gibbs Ensemble is implemented in the continuous fractional component method (CFC) to simulate and facilitate the absorption of heptane and/or toluene into the various ILs. Four novel perarylphosphonium cations are paired with the bistriflimide anion to form the ILs of interest. These are used to simulate the separation of heptane and toluene at varying mole fractions. Results will show a selectivity favoring toluene as well as give some insight to the distribution ratio of the compounds and the loading capacity of each IL.

Publication Date

3-2025

Department

Chemical & Biomedical Engineering

City

Mobile

Disciplines

Biochemical and Biomolecular Engineering

Computational Study of the Separation of Aromatic/Aliphatic Mixtures using Ionic Liquids

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