Equilibria and correlation of systems involving 1-hexyl-3-methylpyridinium trifluoromethanesulfonate

Ionic liquids are being proposed for the improvement of many refinery-related applications where water and oil coexist. However, the lack of relevant thermodynamic data on equilibrium processes involving water, oil and an ionic liquid is a stumbling block. Phase diagrams of these systems are complex, with many different regions, especially when the ionic liquid is solid at room conditions. This greatly complicates modelling, which is usually neglected or carried out only partially. In this work, for the first time, the simultaneous correlation not only of liquid–liquid and liquid–liquid–liquid but also solid–liquid equilibrium data for ternary systems involving ionic liquids has been carried out. To that end, the ionic liquid 1-hexyl-3-methylpyridinium trifluoromethanesulfonate, with an alkyl chain length that favours nano-segregation, was selected. Phase diagrams with water and different representative oils (octane, toluene and cyclohexane) have been determined at various temperatures and atmospheric pressure. The great capacity of the NRTL model, a powerful tool used in all chemical process simulators, was shown by simultaneously correlating data from all the equilibrium regions. However, adequate equilibrium equations and pivotal strategies were required. Low deviations and a good representation of phase diagrams was achieved. A topological analysis based on the Gibbs common tangent criterion and a stability test allowed validation of the proposed correlation parameters.