Green processes and phase equilibrium engineering

S. PEREDA; S. DIAZ; S.B. BOTTINI; E.A. BRIGNOLE

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Congreso; 2nd Mercosur Congress on Chemical Engineering and 4th Mercosur Congress on Process Systems Engineering; 2005

Supercritical fluids are ideal solvents for green processes. Their phase behavior in asymmetric mixtures is discussed to get a better understanding of their possible applications. The concept of phase equilibrium engineering is introduced as a systematic way of solving the challenge of handling phase equilibrium scenarios of fluids with properties highly dependent on pressure , temperature and compositions. Several examples where phase equilibrium properties play a key role in the synthesis of a feasible solution are presented. Applications from alcohol dehydration, gas antisolvent crystallization to extraction and supercritical reactors are presented.