Pseudoternary liquid-liquid equilibria for refined sunflower seed oil + carboxylic acids + anhydrous ethanol at 298.15 K

As well as deacidification (removal of long-chain fatty acids), the deodorization of vegetable oils (removal of odoriferous compounds) can be performed by liquid-liquid extraction using an appropriate solvent. In this work, novel liquid-liquid equilibria (LLE) were measured for three pseudoternary systems containing {refined sunflower seed oil + butyric or valeric or caprylic acid + anhydrous ethanol} at 298.15 K and under atmospheric pressure. The reliability of the LLE data in terms of mass balances was confirmed following procedures established in the literature. The NonRandom Two-Liquid (NRTL) model was used for correlating experimental data. Efficiency of anhydrous ethanol to extract short-chain carboxylic acids (off-flavors) was assessed by distribution coefficients and solvent selectivities.