high-pressure phase equilibrium studies of multicomponent (alcohol-water-ionic liquid-co₂) systems

Selective water (by-product) separation from reaction mixtures stands as an important process intensification strategy for equilibrium-limited reactions. In this work, the possibility of using a high-pressure biphasic reaction media composed of a hydrophobic ionic liquid, 1-hexy-3-methylimidazolium tetracyanoborate, and carbon dioxide was explored for levulinic acid production from 1,4-butanediol. Vapour-liquid equilibrium measurements were performed for the binary (diol+CO₂), ternary (diol+CO₂+IL), and quaternary systems (diol+CO₂+IL+water), at 313.2 K and pressures up to 18 MPa. The static analytical method was used in a high-pressure phase equilibrium apparatus equipped with a visual sapphire cell. The capability of the quaternary system to perform physical water separation is discussed in this paper.