Although ionic liquids (ILs) have been widely explored as solvents for extractive desulfurization (EDS) of fuel oils, systematic studying of the optimal design of ILs for this process is still scarce. The UNIFAC‐IL model is extended first to describe the EDS system based on exhaustive experimental data. Then, based on the obtained UNIFAC‐IL model and group contribution models for predicting the melting point and viscosity of ILs, a mixed‐integer nonlinear programming (MINLP) problem is formulated for the purpose of computer‐aided ionic liquid design (CAILD). The MINLP problem is solved to optimize the liquid‐liquid extraction performance of ILs in a given multicomponent model EDS system, under consideration of constraints regarding the IL structure, thermodynamic and physical properties. The top five IL candidates preidentified from CAILD are further evaluated by means of process simulation using ASPEN Plus. Thereby, [C5MPy][C(CN)3] is identified as the most suitable solvent for EDS. © 2017 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 64: 1013–1025, 2018

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For the selection of industrially suitable ionic liquids (ILs) as extraction solvents, a systematic method combining phase equilibrium calculation, physical property prediction, and process simulation is presented. The conductor-like screening model for real solvents is used to predict the liquid–liquid equilibria of the systems composed of the target mixture to be separated and different ILs at the specific global composition of interest, thereby prescreening ILs with higher mass-based distribution coefficient and selectivity as well as lower solvent loss. Group contribution methods are then employed to estimate the key physical properties of the prescreened ILs and further suggest candidates meeting certain physical property constraints. Afterward, the performance of the top IL candidates in a continuous process is analyzed by Aspen Plus to identify finally process-based optimal solvents. The proposed method is illustrated with an extractive desulfurization case study and two most promising ILs for this process are consequently determined.

To properly screen and use ionic liquids (ILs) as environmental-friendly solvents in chemical reactors and separation processes, the knowledge of their solubilities with water is essential. In the present work, mutual solubilities of 1500 ILs (50 cations, 30 anions) with water at 298.15 K were predicted by using the conductor-like screening model for real solvents (COSMO-RS) as a thermodynamic model. On the basis of the COSMO-RS calculations, the influence of the types of anion and cation, side chain modifications and substituent groups on the mutual solubility with water was extensively analyzed. The data obtained can be used for the prescreening of ILs as solvent candidates. Moreover, to understand the intrinsic solubility behavior in detail, different types of molecular interactions between ILs and water in solution were compared on the basis of the determination of multiple water−IL interaction energies from COSMO-RS computation. The results confirm that hydrogen bonding interactions between anions and water molecules have the dominant influence on the solubility. Finally, for the purpose of fast solubility estimation and solvent selection, COSMO-RS derived molecular descriptors which indicate the strength of anionic HB acceptors were calculated for typical anions and anion families.