ADAMSON UNIVERSITY

College of Engineering
Chemical Engineering Department
M a n i l a

Experiment No. 5

PHASE DIAGRAM OF A

THREE-COMPONENT LIQUID SYSTEM

Submitted by: GROUP 8

Morales, Crislyn R.

Mondala, Angelica R.

Moraleja, Anamor A.

Submitted to:

Prof. Virgilio Agbayani

Date performed: August 29, 2015

Date submitted: September 05, 2015

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this experiment was in order to produce a phase diagram of a three-
component liquid. The three components used for this experiment were chloroform, acetic acid, and
water which are miscible liquids. Multiple trials of titration of different solutions were conduct to
produce the graph of solubility curve of the components. The data obtained in different trials of
titration was used to determine the volume of each substances and percentage mass. The transition
from one region to another can be observed by appearance or disappearance of cloudiness or
turbidity in the solution. The components partially used produce a phase system when combined
which is formed in the graph of the system.

INTRODUCTION

Phase diagrams are graphical representations of the liquid, vapor, and solid phases that co-exist at various
ranges of temperature and pressure within a reservoir. Ternary phase diagrams represent the phase behavior of
mixtures containing three components in a triangular diagram. Ternary phase diagrams are 3 component systems. To
construct a ternary diagram it is necessary to know the three binary systems for the three components. Ternary
diagrams have a vertical temperature axis. Liquid systems of three components consist of three liquid components,
two liquids and one solid or one liquid and two solids

The actual ternary diagram may be represented as a three dimensional form or more commonly as a two
dimensional projection of the liquidus surface onto the base of the triangle created when the three binary diagrams
are joined together. This irregular triangle is often transformed into an equilateral triangle to facilitate presentation and
interpretation. For experimentally studied ternary systems the liquidus surface may be contoured with the
temperature interval representing the contour interval. The fields indicated on the ternary diagram represent the
primary phase fields, of solid phases in equilibrium with liquid, present on the liquidus surface. The lines or curves
which separate primary phase fields are referred to as Cotectic Lines or Boundary Curves, along which 3 phases are
in equilibrium - two solids and a liquid. Straight lines which join the composition points of two phases whose primary
phase fields share a common boundary curve are called Alkemade Lines. Thus the edges of the triangle are
Alkemade Lines as they join the individual phases AB, AC and BC, which share a boundary curve. Alkemade lines
are a specific type of tie line

REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE

Phase diagrams for ternary systems are usually represented using a triangle. This graph accounts for the fact that
only two variables are required. Along the phase boundary only one variable is required. Regions where one or two
phases appear. When the solution is stirred, the transition from one region to another can be observed by
appearance (or disappearance) of cloudiness or turbidity in the solution. The turbidity results from scattering of light
by the large number of very small “oily” droplets of the second phase that are produced when the system is stirred.
Sometimes it is easier to see this when stopping the stirring briefly. If the three components are mixed to give an
overall system composition that falls in the 2-phase region, the system will separate into two phases. The
compositions of the phases that form are given by the intersections of a tie line with the phase boundary. The tie line
must also contain the point describing the overall system composition. For a three−component system, the properties
of an equilateral triangle provide a convenient means of representing the composition of a three−component system
at constant temperature and pressure. [1]

Ternary phase diagrams describe phase equilibria among three components as a function of composition at constant
temperature and pressure. The system of n-propanol, n-heptane, and water exhibits a simple ternary diagram with
two well-demarcated regions. One region represents complete liquid miscibility at high proportions of n-propanol. The
second region delineates the compositions where two immiscible liquid phases coexist--a water-rich layer and a
heptane-rich layer with distinct amounts of solubilized n-propanol. The ternary phase diagram for such partially
miscible liquid systems is generally determined in an undergraduate laboratory experiment by both visual methods
and classical techniques. Indeed, the demarcation between the one- and two-phase liquid regions is visually
discernible through titrations of n-propanol-n-heptane mixtures with water until a second liquid phase appears.
However, the compositions of the immiscible liquid phases within the two-phase region cannot be determined using
classical pH titrations or refractive index measurements. Acidic or basic species are absent, and n-heptane and n-
propanol exhibit refractive indices that differ by only 0.002 at room temperature. We have designed a modern
experiment using conventional absorbance or fluorescence spectroscopy to rapidly, accurately, ad conveniently
construct the n-propanol-n-heptane-water ternary phase diagram. [2]

Ternary phase diagrams, in conjunction with microscopy techniques and reaction product chemistries, were used to
describe the possible ``diffusion paths'' and resulting morphologies that may occur during formation of corrosion
scales from high temperature gaseous exposure. Characterization of the surface reaction products was conducted
using microscopy techniques with energy dispersive spectroscopy and electron probe microanalysis. By plotting
chemical information acquired from the corrosion scales on ternary phase diagrams, development of the phase layer
sequence and morphologies of the multiphase corrosion scales was schematically explained. [3]

METHODOLOGY

In this experiment, 10-ml mixtures of H2O and CHCl₃ were prepared containing 10%, 20%, 30%, 40%, 50%, 60%,
70%, 80% and 90% by volume of water in 125-ml Erlenmeyer flasks The volume of each liquid was measured
accurately using burets. Next, each solution from step 1 above with glacial acetic acid was titrated until the solution
no longer turned cloudy after shaken vigorously. The volume of each liquid in the table was recorded and calculated
the weight of each liquid in each solution. The % by weight of each liquid in each solution was also calculated and the
composition of the mixture on a Stokes and Roozeboom diagram (equilateral triangle) was plotted and the points to
construct a solubility curve were connected. The curve to zero on both ends was extrapolated.

In construction of tie lines, different percentage by volume of mixtures of acetic acid, chloroform, and water were used
to prepare 20-ml mixtures of the three liquids. Acetic acid and water used 15, 30, 45 and 60 % to obtain the required
volume and 25 % for chloroform in all 4 mixtures. The amount of water was increased if no layers are formed until a
considerable amount of the second layer can be observed. Each mixture into a separatory funnel was transferred and
shakes well for 2 minutes until the layers are separated. Pipette 5.0 mL of each aqueous layer into previously
weighted 250-mL Erlenmeyer flasks, and then weigh again. Using beaker, 50 mL of distilled water was added and
titrated to the phenolphthalein end point with 0.5 M NaOH. Pipette 5.0 mL of each CHCl 3 layer into previously
weighted 250-mL Erlenmeyer flasks and weigh again. Then, 50 mL water was added and titrated to the
phenolphthalein end point with 0.25 M NaOH. The percent by weight of acetic acid in each layer was calculated.
Using the data obtained, the point on the solubility curve was located and constructed the tie lines by connecting the
compositions of the complementary layers with a straight line. The plaint point of the system was determined in the
graph.
CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION

In this experiment, we observed the behavior of a system of three liquids: acetic acid, chloroform, and
water. For a three−component system, the properties of an equilateral triangle provide a convenient means of
representing the composition of a three−component system at constant temperature and pressure. After different
trials, we noticed that water and acetic acid are miscible in all proportions, as are chloroform and acetic acid.
However, water and chloroform are only partially miscible. This is represented by the two phase region that lies on
the chloroform-water base of the triangle. The results indicate that for the system of the three liquids, water is a
suitable solvent for removing acetic acid from chloroform and that acetic acid solubility in water is very large
compared with its solubility in chloroform. The data obtained formed an inverted U-shape in the graph which shows
the relationship of the solubility curve of the three liquids.

REFERENCES

1. http://www.brocku.ca/earthsciences/people/gfinn/petrology/ternary1.htm
2. http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/ed077p701
3. http://www.lehigh.edu/~inemg/assets/Publications/Banovic%202000%20Ternary%20PD%20of%20FeAl.pdf
4. http://www.uvm.edu/~dsavin/courses/chem162/lectures/eqm5.pdf
5. http://www.sci.buu.ac.th/~chemistry/QAchem/course_syllabus/BScChem2549/303231_54/lab-3phase54.pdf

APPENDIX

Calculation of the Mass of Each Substance

Trial 1:

Water

1.00 g
mH20 = 1mL ( )
mL
mH20 = 1g

Chloroform

1.49 g
mCHCl3 = 9ml ( )
mL
mCHCl3 = 13.41g

Acetic Acid

1.05 g
mHoAc = 10.2 mL ( )
mL
mHoAc = 10.71g

Total Mass = 25.12 g

Calculation of the Percent Mass

Trial 1:

Water
 1g
% H20 = x 100
25.12 g
% H20 = 3.98 %

Chloroform

13.41 g
% CHCl3 = x 100
25.21 g
% CHCl3 = 53.38 %

Acetic Acid

10.71 g
% HoAc = x 100
25.21 g
% HoAc = 42.64 %

Aqueous Layer

Mixture 1:

mole HoAc
mHoAc = VNaOH (MNaOH) ( )(MWHoAc)
mole NaOH

0.5 mole NaOH 1 mole HoAc 60.05 g

mHoAc = 22.2 mL ( )( )( )
1000 mL 1 mole NaOH 1 mole HoAc
mHoAc = 0.6756 g

mass HoAc
% HoAc = ( ) x 100
Weight Layer

0.6756 g
% HoAc = ( ) x 100
2.48
% HoAc = 27.24 %

CHCl3 Layer

Mixture 1:

mole HoAc
mHoAc = VNaOH (MNaOH) ( )(MWHoAc)
mole NaOH

0.5 mole NaOH 1 mole HoAc 60.05 g

mHoAc = 1.9 mL ( )( )( )
1000 mL 1 mole NaOH 1 mole HoAc
mHoAc = 0.0575 g

mass HoAc
% HoAc = ( ) x 100
Weight Layer

0.0575 g
% HoAc = ( ) x 100
2.56
% HoAc = 2.25 %