Abstract
Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are a series of organic compounds that readily vaporize at room temperature. When emitted into the environment can affect climate change and plants growth, and cause long term human health risks. Absorption abatement technique has been the most preferred to reduce VOCs from contaminated gaseous streams, hence the need for a polymeric solvent with a greater affinity for end-pipe inventory. This phase equilibrium study investigated the ability of diisononyl phthalate (DINP) as an absorbent to 80 selected VOCs at infinite dilution. The solvent-solute(s) interactions were studied using modified UNIFAC Lyngby and Dortmund group contribution methods, with the latter being consistent and reliable, as its results are related to literature. Alkanes, alkanes, aldehydes and cyclo-alkanes with shorter carbon-chain length are highly soluble in DINP, with their solubility decreasing with increasing molecular weight or size, at infinite dilution. Alkynes, ketones, alcohols and carboxylic acids are less soluble in DINP, as a result of their dominating polarity compared to the DINP non-polarity structure. However, results could be improved with further studies and publication of solvent-solute(s) sub-groups interaction parameters, and thus further development of modified UNIFAC Lyngby model. DINP is a good absorbent for short-chained non-polar VOCs.