Liquid–liquid equilibria for ternary systems acetic acid + n-butyl acetate + hydrocarbons at 293.15 K

• Ternary systems acetic acid + n-butyl acetate + hydrocarbon have been studied.
• Influence of hydrocarbon chain length has been investigated.
• Consistency of tie-line data was shown with several correlations.
• Experimental data can be well represented with an UNIQUAC model.
• Asymmetric binary interaction parameters were determined.

Liquid–liquid equilibrium data for acetic acid + n-butyl acetate + hydrocarbons ternary systems at T = 293.15 K are reported in this work. The effect of hydrocarbon chain length on liquid–liquid equilibrium is determined and discussed. Aliphatic hydrocarbons such as hexadecane, dodecane and decane were particularly investigated. The organic chemicals (esters and hydrocarbons) were quantified by gas chromatography using a flame ionization detector while acetic acid was quantified by titration with sodium hydroxide. Experimental tie-line data for the ternary mixtures were correlated using Othmer–Tobias, Bachman and Hand correlations in order to show the reliability of the experimental results. Finally, these experimental data were correlated with the UNIQUAC model. It appeared that this model provides a good correlation of the solubility curve with these three hydrocarbons.