This simulation shows two ways to represent a ternary phase diagram. Ternary phase diagrams represent the phase behavior of a three-component mixture. These diagrams are labeled with solute, solvent, and carrier as the three components used in liquid-liquid extraction.

Click and drag the black dot, which represents the composition of the mixture, within the triangle. Each corner of the triangle is a pure component. The mass fractions for a phase or phases are displayed in a table(s). Select a right or equilateral triangular diagram with the button. Uncheck the “phase envelope” box to view diagrams for completely miscible systems. Selecting “phase envelope” represents the type of diagram important for liquid-liquid extraction. The region inside the phase envelope consists of two phases in equilibrium: the raffinate (green) and extract (magenta). Select solute (blue), solvent (purple), or carrier (orange) to view their mass fractions next to the corresponding axis. Select “grid lines” to display a grid on the phase diagram. These diagrams can also be drawn using mole fractions instead of mass fractions.

1. Using a Triangular (Ternary) Phase Diagram [Video]. (Jul 30, 2015) www.youtube.com/watch?v=gGYHXhcKM5s.

This simulation was created in the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, at University of Colorado Boulder for LearnChemE.com by Rachael Baumann under the direction of Professor John L. Falconer and was converted to HTML5 by Patrick Doyle, with additional contributions by Neil Hendren. Address any questions or comments to learncheme@gmail.com. All of our simulations are open source, and are available on our LearnChemE Github repository.

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