The prediction of the ternary liquid-liquid equilibrium by means of the NRTL-equation

The prediction of ternary liquid-liquid equilibria by means of the NRTL-equation and using the parameters obtained by the correlation of the limiting binary systems is examined. The predicted data are compared with experimental data for systems composed of an aromatic and an aliphatic hydrocarbon and sulpholane. The number of sets of binary parameters obtained from the correlation of the binary systems is infinite. For any value of the non-randomness parameter a corresponding pair of energy parameters can be determined, giving rise to a set fitting the data equally well. Limits to the value of the parameters can only vaguely be determined on the basis of their physical meaning. The upper limit of the non-randomness parameter related to the heterogeneous binary system is more precisely defined. Some general conclusions for the selection of the parameters could be reached. The predicted heterogeneous area is in general too large but decreases with increasing values of the non-randomness parameter of the heterogeneous binary system. The value of the parameters of the homogeneous binary system has only a small influence on the position of the binodal. The slope of the tie lines is mainly determined by the non-ideality of the homogeneous binary systems.