Modeling of the Furfural Refining Process for Lubricating Oils

The effect of operation temperature and furfural/oil ratio on a single-stage furfural refining process for two distillates was studied. The acid number, basic nitrogen, refractive index and aniline point of each of the distillates and the refined oils were measured. They were assumed as four oil components, and the liquid-liquid equilibrium data and corresponding partition coefficients of the pseudo-components could be determined through mass conservation equations and simulated based on the artificial neural networks method. A multistage mathematical model for the refining process was established and solved numerically to give the refined oil quality and recovery under various furfural/oil ratios, temperatures, and stages, which showed a good agreement with those obtained from a pilot plant and the separatory funnel experiments under similar operation conditions. This paper may provide a useful way to assist in determining the optimum conditions and designing plant for the furfural refining process.