(Liquid + liquid), (solid + liquid), and (solid + liquid + liquid) equilibria of systems containing cyclic ether (tetrahydrofuran or 1,3-dioxolane), water, and a biological buffer MOPS

•MOPS buffer induced liquid phase splitting for mixtures of water with THF or 1,3-dioxolane.•Phase boundaries of LLE, SLE, and SLLE were determined experimentally.•Tie-lines at LLE and at SLLE were also measured.•Phase diagrams of MOPS + water + THF or 1,3-dioxolane are prepared.•LLE tie-line data are correlated satisfactorily with the NRTL model.

Two liquid phases were formed as the addition of a certain amount of biological buffer 3-(N-morpholino)propane sulfonic acid (MOPS) in the aqueous solutions of tetrahydrofuran (THF) or 1,3-dioxolane. To evaluate the feasibility of recovering the cyclic ethers from their aqueous solutions with the aid of MOPS, we determined experimentally the phase diagrams of the ternary systems of {cyclic ether (THF or 1,3-dioxolane) + water + MOPS} at T = 298.15 K under atmospheric pressure. In this study, the solubility data of MOPS in water and in the mixed solvents of water/cyclic ethers were obtained from the results of a series of density measurements, while the (liquid + liquid) and the (solid + liquid + liquid) phase boundaries were determined by visually inspection. Additionally, the tie-line results for (liquid + liquid) equilibrium (LLE) and for (solid + liquid + liquid) equilibrium (SLLE) were measured using an analytical method. The reliability of the experimental LLE tie-line results data was validated by using the Othmer–Tobias correlation. These LLE tie-line values were correlated well with the NRTL model. The phase diagrams obtained from this study reveal that MOPS is a feasible green auxiliary agent to recover the cyclic ethers from their aqueous solutions, especially for 1,3-dioxolane.

Graphical abstractFigure optionsDownload full-size imageDownload as PowerPoint slide