# Selectivities of Carbon Dioxide over Ethane in Three Methylimidazolium-Based Ionic Liquids: Experimental Data and Modeling

## TL;DR

This study measures how well three ionic liquids can absorb ethane and carbon dioxide, comparing their performance and modeling the results.

## Contribution

The paper provides new experimental solubility data and models for ethane in three ionic liquids, identifying their selectivity for CO2 over ethane.

## Key findings

- Ethane solubility in ionic liquids decreases in the order [HMIM][Tf2N] > [PMIM][Tf2N] > [BMIM][DMP].
- [PMIM][Tf2N] showed the highest selectivity for CO2 over ethane compared to other ionic liquids and Selexol.
- The Peng–Robinson equation of state with Wong–Sandler mixing rule provided the best model fit with 2.45% average deviation.

## Abstract

This work focused on the solubility of ethane in three promising ionic liquids {1-Hexyl-3-methylimidazolium bis(trifluormethylsulfonyl) imide [HMIM][Tf2N], 1-Butyl-3-methyl-imidazolium dimethyl-phosphate [BMIM][DMP], and 1-Propyl-3-methylimidazolium bis(trifluoromethyl-sulfonyl)-imide [PMIM][Tf2N]}. The solubilities were measured at 303.15 K to 343.15 K and pressures up to 1.4 MPa using a gravimetric microbalance. The overall ranking of ethane solubility in the ionic liquids from highest to lowest is the following: [HMIM][Tf2N] > [PMIM][Tf2N] > [BMIM][DMP]. The Peng–Robinson equation of state was used to model the experimental data using three different mixing rules: van der Waals one, van der Waals two, and Wong–Sandler mixing rules combined with the Non-Random Two-Liquid model. The average absolute deviations for the three mixing rules for the ionic liquids at the three temperatures were 4.39, 2.45, and 2.45%, respectively. Henry’s Law constants for ethane in [BMIM] [DMP] were the highest (lowest solubility) amongst other ionic liquids studied in this work. The solubility ranking for the 3 ILs was confirmed by calculating their overall polarity parameter (N) using COSMO-RS. The selectivity of CO2 over C2H6 was estimated at three temperatures, and the overall ranking of the selectivity was in the following order: [PMIM][Tf2N] > [BMIM][DMP] > [HMIM][Tf2N] > Selexol. Selexol is an efficient and widely used physical solvent in gas sweetening. It has lower selectivity than the three ionic liquids studied. [PMIM][Tf2N], a promising solvent, has the highest selectivity among the three ILs studied and would, therefore, be the best choice if, in addition to carbon dioxide capture, ethane co-absorption was to be avoided. The enthalpy and entropy of solvation at infinite dilution were also estimated.