ISSN print edition: 0366-6352 ISSN electronic edition: 1336-9075 Registr. No.: MK SR 9/7 Published monthly

Separation of allyl alcohol and n-propanol by extractive distillation

Yong Pan, Zhaozhen Yang, and YingZe Zhang

Hubei Provincial Key Laboratory of Green Materials for Light Industry, Hubei University of Technology, Wuhan, China

E-mail: m13051792239@163.com

Received: 16 July 2025  Accepted: 22 November 2025

Abstract:

The recovery and separation of high-purity allyl alcohol from the mixture of allyl alcohol and n-propanol is virtually impossible by ordinary distillation technique due to their boiling points differing by only 0.3 °C and have a relative volatility of 1.01. In this study, we developed an extractive distillation method using n-methylpyrrolidone (NMP) as entrainer for obtaining high purity allyl alcohol (> 99%). First, the binary vapor–liquid equilibrium data between the extractant and the component to be separated were determined. Then, the feasibility of NMP as an entrainer was demonstrated using batch extractive distillation, and the effects of different reflux ratios and entrainer flow rate on the production of high-purity allyl alcohol were investigated, the optimal conditions comprise a reflux ratio of 2 and an extractant feed rate of 6.6 ml/min. In addition, the surface charge density and interaction energy were calculated based on the COSMO-SAC model and Gaussian to understand the interaction mechanism between the entraining agent NMP and the components in the mixture at the molecular level. This work provides a method for industrial separation of allyl alcohol and n-propanol.

Keywords: Allyl alcohol; N-propanol; Extractive distillation; Molecular simulation

Full paper is available at www.springerlink.com.

DOI: 10.1007/s11696-025-04550-2

Chemical Papers 80 (3) 2775–2783 (2026)