Abstract

This work presents a comprehensive investigation on the solubility and mass transfer coefficient enhancement of furfural through Hydrotropy. The solubility and mass transfer coefficient studies were carried out using hydrotropes such as urea, tri-sodium citrate, sodium toluate and sodium benzoate under a wide range of hydrotrope concentrations (0 to 3.0 mol/L) and different system temperatures (303 to 333 K). The solubility of furfural increases with increase in hydrotrope concentration and also with system temperature. A Minimum Hydrotrope Concentration (MHC) in the aqueous phase was required to initiate significant solubilization of furfural. Consequent to the increase in solubilization of furfural, the mass transfer coefficient was also found to increase with increase in hydrotrope concentration. A threshold value of MHC is to be maintained to have an appreciable enhancement in the mass transfer coefficient. The maximum enhancement factor, which is the ratio of the value in the presence and absence of a hydrotrope, has been determined for all sets of experimentations. A comprehensive design expert plot for hydrotropic effect on furfural is also presented.The performance of hydrotropes was measured in terms of Setschnew constant Ks and reported for all hydrotropes used in this study.

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