| Abstract | The measurements and modeling of liquid-liquid equilibria between dimethyl ether (DME) and water, and between water, DME, and a model polar lipid fraction consisting predominantly of phosphatidylcholine are presented. Phase equilibria were modeled using the Peng Robinson EOS. The solubility of DME in the water phase ranged from 15 to 20% (mole fraction) over the range of liquid/liquid equilibria conditions. The solubility of water in DME increased with an increase in temperature, while the solubility of DME in the water rich phase decreased with increasing temperature. There was good agreement between theory and experimental results, including the small region where tow liquid phases were in equilibrium with a DME vapor phase. Water/DME/lipid measurements indicated an increase in water solubility in DME with an increasing lipid content. There was little effect of temperature on the water solubility in the presence of lipid, but a significant increase in solubility with temperatures for the binary water/DME system. The effect of pressure on DME/water mutual solubility was minimal. This is an abstract of a paper presented at the AIChE 2004 Annual Meeting (Austin, TX 11/7-12/2004). |
