TY  - JOUR
AU  - von Westarp, William Graf
AU  - Hense, Janik
AU  - Haas, Moritz
AU  - Jupke, Andreas
TI  - Terpenoids as solvents for the separation of 2,3-butanediol from water: Phase equilibria and process evaluation
JO  - Fluid phase equilibria
VL  - 600
SN  - 0378-3812
CY  - New York, NY [u.a.]
PB  - Science Direct
M1  - FZJ-2026-00735
SP  - 114572 -
PY  - 2026
AB  - 2,3-butanediol (2,3-BDO) is a versatile platform chemical that can be produced via fermentation in aqueous solution. The energy intensive recovery of the high boiling 2,3-BDO from water via distillation hinders the economic viability of biotechnological produced 2,3-BDO. Hence, extraction-distillation processes using novel solvents from the class of terpenoids, namely menthol, thymol, and carvacrol, are proposed. To this end, binary and ternary liquid-liquid equilibrium (LLE) data for H2O, 2,3-BDO, and each terpenoid, as well as boiling point data for 2,3-BDO and the respective terpenoid, are measured. The thermodynamic phase equilibria are correlated with the non-random two liquid (NRTL) model and consecutive process design of the extraction-distillation processes is conducted using Aspen Plus. Conventional solvents (isobutanol, 1-butanol, and oleylalcohol), thymol, and carvacrol are assessed in terms of specific exergy demand for the production of 2,3-BDO. The lowest specific exergy demands were found for oleyl alcohol (5.38 kJ g−1) and thymol (5.14 kJ g−1), carvacrol (5.49 kJ g−1). Hence, terpenoids are a competitive class of solvents and should be included in solvent screening approaches.
LB  - PUB:(DE-HGF)16
DO  - DOI:10.1016/j.fluid.2025.114572
UR  - https://juser.fz-juelich.de/record/1052065
ER  -