A non-recycle flow still for the experimental determination of vapor–liquid equilibria in reactive systems

Experiments for the determination of vapor–liquid equilibrium (VLE) data with a Non-Recycle Flow Still (NFS) are described. Due to short residence times, the NFS is especially suited for systems with thermally unstable components and for reactive mixtures. VLE data of the latter are necessary for modeling reactive distillation processes. With the NFS isobaric data both at atmospheric and at reduced pressure can be gained. The potential of this technique is demonstrated and validated with the well-known, non-reactive systems methanol–ethanol and ethanol–water. The other (mainly reactive) binary mixtures investigated stem from two esterification systems (methyl formate and ethyl acetate production) and one etherification system (tert-amyl methyl ether production). The NRTL equation is used for modeling of the VLE data. The data acquired with the NFS are compared with literature data (whenever possible) or with results of group contribution methods.