Solvent Selection Methodology Department Editor: Rita L. D’Aquino Chemical Engineering®

**Manfenix** Vie Abr 15, 2011 1:26 pm

Organic solvents have been used in many industries for centuries, but the methods and tools to select optimal solvents while minimizing their adverse environmental, health, safety and operational concerns are still evolving. The appropriate selection of solvents depends to a large extent on the application, more specifically on what needs to be dissolved, and under what conditions. This article presents a four-step approach to solvent selection based upon Ref. 1* , where the reader will find a list of additional resources on this topic.

Identify the challenge and solvent characteristics
The first two steps are:
identifying the actual problem and technology or unit operation required to solve it; and
defining the requirements that must be met by the solvent, using criteria related to its physical and chemical properties (e.g., pure-solvent properties, such as normal boiling point, the Hildebrand solubility parameter at 300 K, the Hansen solubility parameters; solventsolute properties, such as the solubility of the solute as a function of the composition of the mixture; and functional constraints, such as solute loss in solute).

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Solvent Selection Methodology Department Editor: Rita L. D’Aquino Chemical Engineering® 2q1avx10