Phase equilibrium behavior for hydrogenolysis components: three-phase equilibria LLV and retrograde behavior

Knowledge of the phase equilibria of the reaction mixture, and the boundaries of the homogeneous phase region are required in order to determine the most favorable operating conditions for supercritical hydrogenolysis. In the present work, the phase behavior of binary and ternary mixtures with methyl palmitate, hexadecanol, hydrogen and propane is analyzed. The range of temperatures covered was between 300 K and 450 K and of pressures up to 16 MPa. Three-phase liquid-liquid-vapor equilibria were found for the system hydrogen + propane + hexadecanol, with retrograde behavior of the lighter liquid.