Abstract
Cyrene (dihydrolevoglucosenone) is a bio-based, dipolar aprotic solvent derived from cellulose and is considered as a sustainable alternative to conventional petrochemical solvents such as N-methyl-2-pyrrolidone (NMP) and N,N-dimethylformamide (DMF), due to their toxicity and environmental hazards. Because of the low vapor pressure and wide liquid stability range, Cyrene is considered an attractive green solvent. However, thermodynamic and phase equilibrium data are still limited and needed for simulating processes with this component. This study focuses on the thermodynamic behaviour of pure Cyrene, intending to determine its boiling temperature at different pressures through vapor pressure measurements. The experiments were performed using the Fischer® Labodest® VLLE 602 unit located at the Process Thermodynamics laboratory (PT lab) of Politecnico di Milano. Vapor pressure measurements covered a pressure range from 30 to 90 kPa, corresponding to equilibrium temperatures between approximately 450 and 495 K, using Cyrene with a purity of 99.8 wt.%. The experimentally obtained vapor pressure vs. temperature relationship is compared with the available literature data reported in a few other sources, and shows good agreement, confirming both the reliability of the Fischer® Labodest® VLLE 602 unit and the robustness of the adopted experimental procedure. A vapor pressure correlation is also proposed. The collected experimental data and the proposed correlation will be employed in future works for the modeling and simulation of separation processes involving Cyrene.
