Water / Methyl isobutyl ketone (MIBK) biphasic system in slug flow under high temperature and pressure conditions

The clarification of the partition property of substrates in a water / organic biphasic system is useful in the development of a reaction / separation process for value-added materials, especially under high temperature and pressure conditions. In this study, the water / methyl isobuthyl ketone (MIBK) biphasic system was investigated under various temperatures (25 - 190 °C) at 10 MPa. The partitioning behavior of substrates such as furfural derivatives, amino acids, and saccharides, depended on the temperature and the flow rate ratio of MIBK to the water phase. The scale of hydrophobicity (HF) of the water / MIBK biphasic system to determine the partitioning behavior of substrates was estimated based on the partitioning behavior of amino acids. The HF value for the water / MIBK phase flow system of was greater than that for the batch system and comparable to that for conventional aqueous two-phase systems such as polyethylene glycol / dextran and liposome membrane systems. It was probably because an increase of the surface-to-volume ratio and the vortex field in the slug flow contributed to the mass transfer of substrates and their distribution.