The
extraction efficiency of the solvent on the polyphenols greatly
determines whether the phenol-containing wastewater can be handled
well. In this work, liquid–liquid equilibrium (LLE) data for
the mixture of pentan-2-one + benzene-1,2-diol/benzene-1,3-diol/benzene-1,4-diol
+ water were determined at 333.15, 343.15, and 353.15 K under 101.3
kPa. Distribution coefficients and selectivity factors were calculated
to evaluate the extraction efficiency of polyphenols from wastewater.
The reliability of the LLE data was verified by the Hand and Bachman
equations. The thermodynamic NRTL and UNIQUAC models were successfully
applied to regress and correlate the experimental LLE data of the
studied systems. The root-mean-square deviations of both models are
less than 0.0060. The experimental results indicate that pentan-2-one
is a suitable extractant for removal of polyphenols from wastewater.