Liquid-liquid equilibria for the ternary system of water + furfural + solvents at 303.15 and 323.15 K under atmospheric pressure

Highlights: • The liquid-liquid equilibrium data for furfural + water + o-xylene, m-xylene and also ethylbenzene were measured. • The distribution coefficient of furfural and separating factors for solvent extraction efficiency were calculated. • The NRTL model (two regression methods) and UNIQUAC model were used to correlate the experimental data with good results. • Both model equations satisfactorily correlated experimental LLE data with an RMSD less 0.005. • The reliability of the experimental tie-line data were ascertained by the Othmer-Tobias equation and the Bachman equation. Liquid-liquid equilibria data are investigated for the furfural-water system with o-xylene, m-xylene and also ethylbenzene as extractants at 303.15 and 323.15 K. The distribution coefficient and separation factors were calculated according to the LLE data. All the separation factors were much larger than one, implying the feasibility of these three solvents to extract the furfural from aqueous solution. To facilitate the manipulation of the obtained data for industrial applications, the NRTL and the UNIQUAC models have been applied to correlate the experimental data and all the root mean square deviation (RMSD) values of the two models were less 0.20. All the data demonstrated that o-xylene, m-xylene as well as ethylbenzene were ideal extractants for separating furfural from aqueous solution.