Liquid–liquid equilibria of aromatics removal from middle distillate using NMP

We investigated the removal of aromatics from a typical Kuwait middle distillate using liquid–liquid extraction. A multicomponent system; dodecane + hexadecane + 1,3,5-trimethyl benzene (mesitylene) + butylbenzene; was used to represent the middle distillate mixture. N-methyl-2-pyrrolidone (NMP) was used as a solvent. The liquid–liquid equilibria (LLE) of the mixture was studied over a temperature range of 293–323 K and at different solvent to feed ratios (1.35–1.97). The selectivity and distribution coefficient of the solvent were correlated successfully using the universal quasi-chemical (UNIQUAC) model for the pseudo-ternary system (paraffins (1) + aromatics (2) + NMP (3)) at the studied temperature range. The UNIQUAC model fit the experimental data with an average percentage root mean square deviation (rmds) of 0.2980%.