Phase equilibria group contribution modeling of furan derivatives with the GCA-EoS

MARIANA GONZÁLEZ PRIETO; FRANCISCO A. SÁNCHEZ; SELVA PEREDA

Eindhoven

Congreso; 27th European Symposium of Applied Thermodynamics (ESAT 2014); 2014

Eindhoven University of Technology

Biomass has become in one of the most promissory source of compounds for industrial and commercial requirements in the long term. It has been a historical source of food and natural compoundss. More recently, with the increase of fossil fuel prices, biorefineries have appeared as an alternative to traditional refineries, in order to obtain biofuels. However, many authors agree that the success of biorefineries will be based not only in biofuel production but in value-added products [1][2][3]. Pharmaceutical compounds, polymers, insecticides, fuel additives and different raw material are some examples.In the last years several oxygenated organic compounds have been studied in order to obtain reliable fuel additives for combustion engines, in order to improve combustion and decrease gas emissions. Ethanol has become in one of the most used fuel additives for combustion engines. However, ethanol has some disadvantages as fuel additive because of its water affinity, high volatility lower energy density. This has encouraged the search for alternatives of oxygenate alternatives to ethanol, such a 1-butanol or ethers like methyl-tertbutylether (MTBE). Recently, new new progress has been achieved to easily convert biomass into 2,5-dimethylfuran (DMF) from fructose [4][5]. Moreover, it has been shown [6] that shown that cellulose itself can be converted into different furanic derivatives such as furfural, hydroxymethylfurfural, levulinic acid, which are added-value. This has carried DMF as a real alternative fuel blending, because it has competitive physical properties against ethanol: higher boiling point, same energy density as petroleum and small affinity with water [7]. Moreover, a catalytic process has been recently reported to produce DMF, which is chemicaly controled and cheaper than biological process [4].In this work we propose an extension of the Group Contribution with Association Equation of State (GCA-EoS) [8] to include furan derivatives to its parameter table. Previous works have shown the capability of this model to reproduce the phase equilibria of complex mixtures, with presence of hydrocarbons, alcohols, carboxilic acids, amines and water [9][10][11]. We aim to develop a thermodynamic tool to model the phase equilibria of biofuels related mixtures, useful for process and product exploration.References[1] S. Blanco-Rosete, C. Webb, Biofuels, Bioprod. Bioref.,  2008, 2, 331-342.[2] S.N. Naik, V.V. Goud, P.K. Rout, A.K. Dalai, Renew. Sust. Energ. Rev.,  2010, 14, 578-597.[3] K. Srirangan, L. Akawi, M. Moo-Young, C. Perry Chou, Appl. Energy,  2012, 100, 172-186.[4] Y. Román-Leshkov, C.J. Barrett, Z.Y. Liu, Nature,  2007, 447, 982-986.[5] L. Kara Zaitri, L. Negadi, Ilham Mokbel, N. Msakni, J. Jose, Fuel,  2012, 95, 438-445.[6] E. Christensen, J. Yanowitz, M. Ratcliff, R.L. McCormick, Energ. Fuels,  2011, 25, 4723-4733.[7] H.P. Gros, S.B. Bottini,  E.A. Brignole, Fluid Phase Equilib.,  1996, 116, 535-544.[8] O. Ferreira, T. Fornari, E.A. Brignole, S.B. Bottini, Lat. Am. Appl. Res.,  2003, 33, 307-312.[9] F.A. Sánchez, T.M. Soria, A.H. Mohammadi, D. Richon, E.A. Brignole, Ind. Eng. Chem. Res.,  2010, 49, 7085-7092.[10] T.M. Soria, F.A. Sánchez, S. Pereda, S.B. Bottini, Fluid Phase Equilib.,  2010, 296, 116-124.