Estudo do equilibrio de fases para sistemas óleo vegetal/dióxido de carbono empregando a equação de Peng-Robinson

Abstract

This work is concerned with the prediction of the vapor-liquid equilibria using the Peng-Robinson EOS for systems: fat and oils related compounds/supercritical CO2. The van der Waals mixing rules were employed with two binary interaction parameters. The combining rules proposed by Kwak & Mansoori and Park, Kwak & Mansoori that involve three binary interaction parameters were also used. It has also been studied the extraction of Amazon seed oils with carbon dioxide (pressures of 150-300 bar; temperatures of 50°C-60°C). The effects of the operational conditions on the fatty acids and triglycerides composition of the oils were investigated. A software was developed using Delphi 1.0 for Windows to obtain the binary interaction parameters and for the vapor-liquid equilibria P-T flash calculation. The published pure components' data (Tb, Tc, Pc and vapor pressure) of fatty acids and fatty acid esters were employed to evaluate the methods available for predictions of Tb, Tc and Pc. The Constantinou & Gani and the Somayajulu methods, using experimental values of Tb, were selected for the prediction of Tc and Pc, respectively. The Constantinou & Gani method was selected for the prediction of Tb, Tc and Pc, and the Tu method was selected for the prediction of the acentric factor of fatty acids. The Joback & Reid method was selected for the prediction of Tb and Tc, and the Constantinou & Gani for the prediction of Pc of fatty acid esters. The Vetere correlation was selected for the calculation of the acentric factor for low molecular weight fatty acid esters, and the Tu method for the fatty acid methyl esters' family. The results show that the Peng-Robinson EOS with the van der Waals mixing rules with three combining rules were able to describe qualitatively the vapor-liquid equilibria of the systems studied. There were no significant differences among the three combining rules. The composition in fatty acids and triglycerides of the oils of Cupuacu, Bacuri, Palm Kernel and Passion fruit, extracted with CO2 showed a slight variation for the pressure and temperature ranges studied.