Vapor–liquid equilibrium (VLE)
data for the ternary system
of acetonitrile + ethanol + ionic liquids (ILs) were obtained at 101.3
kPa, and used ILs were 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)imide
([BMIM][NTf2]), 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)imide
([EMIM][NTf2]), and 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium diethylphosphate
([BMIM][DEP]). The nonrandom two-liquid (NRTL) model was used to correlate
the VLE data and fitted well, indicating that the minimum mole fractions
of [BMIM][NTf2], [EMIM][NTf2], and [BMIM][DEP]
to eliminate the azeotrope was 0.053, 0.063, and 0.065, respectively.
These ILs led to an outstanding “salting-in” effect
on ethanol, and the salting effect on acetonitrile was inapparent.
Higher concentrations of ILs signified a stronger salt effect as well
as higher equilibrium temperatures. The results indicated that [BMIM][NTf2], [EMIM][NTf2], and [BMIM][DEP] could be used
as good candidate entrainers to separate acetonitrile and ethanol
in extractive distillation.