Liquid–liquid equilibria for the systems ethylene carbonate + ethylene glycol + glycerol; ethylene carbonate + glycerol carbonate + glycerol and ethylene carbonate + ethylene glycol + glycerol carbonate + glycerol at catalytic reacting temperatures

• LLE of ternary and quaternary systems in the synthesis of glycerol carbonate were measured.
• Ethylene glycol and glycerol carbonate acted as cosolvents for the two reactants.
• Presence of cosolvents and temperature in LLE of the systems was assessed.
• NRTL model was used to correlate experimental data with a good degree of agreement.

The measurements of the liquid–liquid equilibria implied in the reaction system to yield glycerol carbonate from ethylene carbonate and glycerol were performed. First, data for the ternary systems consisting of ethylene carbonate + ethylene glycol + glycerol as well as ethylene carbonate + glycerol carbonate + glycerol at 313.2, 318.2 and 323.2 K and atmospheric pressure were acquired. Furthermore, the quaternary equilibrium involving both products of the reaction, i.e., ethylene carbonate + ethylene glycol + glycerol carbonate + glycerol, was evaluated under the same conditions. All the data experimental data were correlated with the NRTL model with root-mean square deviations of about 0.03 for all the systems tested.

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