Phase Partitioning of Common Alcohols With BTEX Compounds in Water: Comparison Between Modeling and Experimental Results

This study compares the modeling and experimental results on the equilibrium phase partitioning behavior of three common alcohols (ethanol, isopropanol, and methanol) in a two-phase system consisting of water and a BTEX compound. A previously developed computer program is used to generate ternary phase diagrams for each alcohol-water-NAPL mixture combination, where the required activity coefficients are estimated using the UNIFAC model. A set of laboratory experiments is conducted to determine the maximum single-phase water content for every alcohol-water-NAPL mixture combination considered in this study, where the initial volume composition is 85 percent alcohol and 15 percent NAPL. Comparison of experimental results against UNIFAC- derived modeling results shows good agreement for mixtures containing ethanol and methanol, but relatively poor agreement for mixtures containing isopropanol.