Modified UNIFAC (Dortmund): Reliable model for the development of thermal separation processes

Thermal separation processes are of great importance, because they usually cause the greatest part of costs (investment, operating) of a chemical proc ess. For the synthesis, design and optimization of separation processes, in particular, a reliable knowledge of the real phase equilibrium behavior is necessary. If no experimental data are available, group contributions methods can be u sed to predict the required phase equilibria and excess properties. In rece nt years, Modified UNIFAC (Dortmund) has become very popular because of its reliable results obtained for different thermodynamic properties such as v apor-liquid equilibria (VLE), solid-liquid equilibria (SLE), azeotropic dat a, activity coefficients at infinite dilution (gamma (infinity)) and excess enthalpies (h(E)) in a wide temperature range. This paper gives an idea ab out the large range of applicability and the potential of Modified UNIFAC ( Dortmund) for the synthesis, design and optimization of thermal separation processes and other applications of industrial interest. Furthermore, the r esults of an extensive model comparison for azeotropic data and excess enth alpies are presented.