Published on: May 2026
A SIMULATION CASE STUDY ON SEPARATION OF IPA-METHANOL-WATER MIXTURE BY DISTILLATION
Manish C. Lonare Seema R. Pawar Pradnya S. Ghode Prerna D. Khandekar Vedika A. Gosavi
Dr. Saphal U. Patil
Article Status
Available Documents
Abstract
The present work focuses on the simulation and analysis of the separation of an Isopropyl Alcohol (IPA)–Methanol–Water mixture using distillation with Dimethyl Sulfoxide (DMSO) as an entrainer. Due to the close boiling points and non-ideal vapor–liquid equilibrium behavior of IPA and methanol, conventional distillation becomes inefficient for achieving high-purity separation. In this study, a three-column extractive distillation process was simulated for efficient methanol separation, IPA recovery, and DMSO solvent recycling. The feed mixture consisted of 40 wt.% IPA, 40 wt.% methanol, and 20 wt.% water, while DMSO was introduced as the extractive solvent. The simulation results demonstrated that methanol purity of 99.25 wt.% and IPA purity of 99.65 wt.% were achieved. Additionally, DMSO recovery of approximately 99.99 wt.% was obtained with negligible solvent losses. The results confirm that extractive distillation using DMSO is an effective and industrially viable technique for the separation of IPA–Methanol–Water systems.
Keywords: IPA, Methanol, Water, DMSO, Simulation
How to Cite this Paper
Lonare, M. C., Pawar, S. R., Ghode, P. S., Khandekar, P. D. & Gosavi, V. A. (2026). A simulation case study on separation of IPA-Methanol-Water mixture by distillation. International Journal of Creative and Open Research in Engineering and Management, <i>02</i>(05). https://doi.org/10.55041/ijcope.v2i5.511
Lonare, Manish, et al.. "A simulation case study on separation of IPA-Methanol-Water mixture by distillation." International Journal of Creative and Open Research in Engineering and Management, vol. 02, no. 05, 2026, pp. . doi:https://doi.org/10.55041/ijcope.v2i5.511.
Lonare, Manish,Seema Pawar,Pradnya Ghode,Prerna Khandekar, and Vedika Gosavi. "A simulation case study on separation of IPA-Methanol-Water mixture by distillation." International Journal of Creative and Open Research in Engineering and Management 02, no. 05 (2026). https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.55041/ijcope.v2i5.511.
Search & Index
References
[1] S. Arifin and I.-L. Chien, “Design and control of an isopropyl alcohol dehydration process via extractive distillation using dimethyl sulfoxide as an entrainer,” Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research, vol. 47, no. 3, pp. 790–803, 2008. doi: 10.1021/ie070856h.[2] A. N. Dakhore, A. M. Desai, A. I. Nannaware, and K. Jadhav, “DMSO as a solvent for distillation of IPA and water,” International Journal of Scientific Development and Research (IJSDR), vol. 5, no. 7, pp. 295–297, 2020.
[3] “Modelling and optimization of extractive distillation for IPA-water separation using artificial neural network models,” Computers & Chemical Engineering, vol. 208, p. 109580, 2026. doi: 10.1016/j.compchemeng.2025.109580.
[4] M. Neagu and D.-L. Cursaru, “Techno-economical evaluation of extractive distillation process for isopropanol dehydration with different extractive solvents,” Applied Sciences, vol. 15, no. 12, p. 6430, 2025. doi: 10.3390/app15126430.
[5] S. Ma, X. Shang, M. Zhu, J. Li, and L. Sun, “Design, optimization and control of extractive distillation for the separation of isopropanol-water using ionic liquids,” Separation and Purification Technology, vol. 209, pp. 833–850, 2019. doi: 10.1016/j.seppur.2018.08.049.
[6] A.-I. Yeh, L. Berg, and K. J. Warren, “The separation of acetone-methanol mixture by extractive distillation,” Chemical Engineering Communications, vol. 68, no. 1, pp. 69–79, 1988. doi: 10.1080/00986448808940577.
[7] X. Gao, Z. Wang, Z. Wang, X. Weng, and X. Weng, “Study on the separation of methyl-ethyl-ketone/isopropanol/water ternary mixture by energy-efficient extractive distillation processes,” Journal of Cleaner Production, vol. 449, p. 141618, 2024. doi: 10.1016/j.jclepro.2024.141618.
[8] M. A. Bhabar, V. Dalvi, and N. Mehta, “Simulation of extractive distillation using ChemSep,” International Journal of Engineering Research & Technology (IJERT), vol. 13, no. 10, 2024.
Ethical Compliance & Review Process
- •All submissions are screened under plagiarism detection.
- •Review follows editorial policy.
- •Authors retain copyright.
- •Peer Review Type: Double-Blind Peer Review
- •Published on: May 17 2026
This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License. You are free to share and adapt this work for non-commercial purposes with proper attribution.