Separation of Tetrahydrofuran–Water Azeotropic Mixture by Batch Extractive Distillation Process

Tetrahydrofuran and water formed a minimum azeotrope at 64°C, which contains water 6.7% in mass fraction. We could not use conventional distillation to separate these two components. In this work, a systematic study of the separation of the tetrahydrofuran–water mixture with a new en trainer by batch extractive distillation was performed. Based upon the lots of computation, 1,2-propanediol was chosen to be the entrainer. It broke the original binary azeotrope. The process feasibility analysis was validated by rigorous simulation with chemical process simulation software—HYSYS. Plant 2.2 and DISTIL 4.1. Simulation results were then corroborated in a batch experimental packing column with the selected entrainer. The experimental and simulation results agreed well.