Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research, Vol.56, No.46, 13905-13910, 2017
Efficient Determination of Liquid-Liquid Equilibria Using Microfluidics and Raman Microspectroscopy
Experimental liquid liquid equilibrium (LLE) data are indispensable for many applications ranging from extraction column design to water partitioning of organics in the environment. However, conventional LLE experiments are time-consuming and need large sample volumes. Therefore, a measurement setup is presented for the time and material efficient determination of LLE data. The measurement setup combines the advantages of microfluidics and Raman micro-spectroscopy: The small dimensions of the used H-cell microchannel lead to rapid equilibration and small sample consumption; Raman microspectroscopy allows for rapid in situ quantification of all components. The measurement setup has successfully been validated by measuring the LLE of the ternary system cyclohexane methanol toluene. Excellent agreement with the literature data has been achieved. Thus, the developed setup allows for the efficient determination of liquid liquid equilibria in multicomponent mixtures.