Enhanced solubility of hydrogen and carbon monoxide in propane‐ and propylene‐expanded liquids

• Published in: AIChE journal Vol. 64; no. 3; pp. 970 - 980
• Main Authors: Liu, Dupeng, Chaudhari, Raghunath V., Subramaniam, Bala
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York American Institute of Chemical Engineers 01.03.2018
• Subjects: Carbon monoxide; Chemical industry; Equations of state; gas‐expanded liquids; hydroformylation; Hydrogen storage; Interaction parameters; Liquid phases; Liquid-vapor equilibrium; Mixing rules; Organic solvents; Phase equilibria; Propane; Propylene; solubility; Solvents; syngas; Ternary systems; Toluene; Vapors
• ISSN: 0001-1541; 1547-5905
• DOI: 10.1002/aic.15988

Conventional propylene hydroformylation occurs in a gas‐expanded liquid phase. Reliable knowledge of the phase equilibria of such systems, including the solubilities of CO and H2 in propylene‐expanded solvents, is essential for rational process design and development. Herein, we report the vapor–liquid equilibrium (VLE) data of the following ternary systems involving CO, H2, propane, propylene, toluene and NX‐795 at temperatures from 70 to 90°C and pressures up to 1.5 MPa: propane/H2/toluene, propane/CO/toluene, propylene/H2/toluene, propylene/CO/toluene, propane/H2/NX‐795, propane/CO/NX‐795, propylene/H2/NX‐795 and propylene/CO/NX‐795. The solubilities of H2 and CO in either propane‐expanded or propylene‐expanded phases are observed to be greater than those in the neat organic solvents, by as high as 78% at 70°C and 1.5 MPa. By modeling the vapor and the liquid phases as pseudo‐binary systems, the Peng‐Robinson equation of state (PR‐EoS) with van der Waals’ mixing rules and binary interaction parameters is shown to satisfactorily predict the experimental VLE data. © 2017 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 64: 970–980, 2018