Metastable Zone in High-Pressure Crystallization of Benzene from Benzene-Cyclohexane Eutectic System

Abstract

70 to 100 mol% benzene-cyclohexane liquid mixture was compressed to a pressure higher than the equilibrium pressure at 283.2K and 293.2K. The metastable zone expressed by the pressure was turned out to range from 20.7 to 40.4 MPa based on the observation of nucleation within thirty minutes after the mixture was compressed to the desired pressure.
Benzene crystals of uniform size were obtained when benzene nuclei generated in 90 mol% benzene-cyclohexane mixture at 283.2K were kept in the metastable zone.