(Liquid plus liquid) equilibria of methanol plus ethylbenzene plus isooctane plus methy tert-butyl ether quaternary system at T=303.15 K

Tie line data of {methanol + methyl tert-butyl ether + isooctane} ternary systems were obtained at T = 303.15 K, while data for {methanol + ethylbenzene + isooctane} were taken from literature. The ternary system {methanol + methyl tert-butyl ether + ethylbenzene} and {methyl tert-butyl ether + ethylbenzene + isooctane} were completely miscible. A quaternary system {methanol + ethylbenzene + isooctane + methyl tert-butyl ether} was also studied at the same temperature. In order to obtain equilibium data of the quaternary system, four quaternary sectional planes with several methyl tert-butyl ether/methanol ratios were studied. The effect of the addition of methyl tert-butyl ether on the liquid-liquid equilibrium data of {methanol + ethylbenzene + isooctane} ternary system has been investigate at the same temperature. The distribution curves for ternary and quaternary system was analysed. For the quaternary system {methanol + ethylbenzene + isooctane + methyl tert-butyl ether}, experimental data demonstrated that the distribution coefficient of ethylbenzene between the hydrocarbon and methanol phase on a methyl tert-butyl ether-free basis slightly increases with the increase of methyl tert-butyl ether/methanol ratio. Ternary experimental results were correlated with the UNIQUAC and NRTL equation. The NRTL equation is more accurate than the UNIQUAC equation for the ternary systems studied here. The equilibrium data of three ternary systems were used for determining interactions parameters for the UNIQUAC equation. The UNIQUAC equation fitted to the experimental data appeared to be more accurate than the UNIFAC method for the same quaternary system.