Vapor−Liquid Equilibria in the Systems Ethyl Lactate + Ethanol and Ethyl Lactate + Water

Abstract

A simple vapor−liquid equilibrium (VLE) apparatus has been constructed to successfully measure the VLE of binary ethyl lactate systems that have relatively high differences in volatility (P2sat/P1sat ∼ 7.0). Degassing is done in situ, reducing the experimental time considerably. Isothermal VLE of the ethyl lactate + ethanol system was measured at (40.0, 60.1, and 80.2) °C, and the isothermal VLE of the ethyl lactate + water system was measured at (40.0 and 60.0) °C. The ethyl lactate + ethanol system is slightly nonideal, and the ethyl lactate + water system forms a minimum boiling azeotrope. Isothermal data for ethanol + water were measured at 40.0 °C to demonstrate reliability of the apparatus.