Gas–liquid partition coefficients and Henry's law constants of methyl mercaptan in aqueous solutions of Fe(II)–CDTA chelate complex

Utilization of ferric chelate complex of trans-1,2-cyclohexanediaminetetraacetic acid (CDTA) for the oxidative scrubbing of H₂S and CH₃SH in Kraft mill streams can be beneficial from the standpoints of iron protection against precipitation and oxygen-mediated regenerative oxidation of the ferrous chelate CDTA. The physical solubility of methyl mercaptan in CDTA–Fe(III) complex cannot be measured directly because of oxidation of the sulfur-bearing gaseous species with the ferric chelate. Therefore, this investigation was carried out to determine the gas–liquid partition coefficients and Henry's law constants of methyl mercaptan in aqueous iron-free CDTA solutions and non-reacting ferrous chelate solutions (CDTA–Fe(II) complex), using the static headspace method with an estimated accuracy of about 2%. Experiments with aqueous solutions of chelate concentrations varying between 38 and 300 mol m⁻³ were carried out at temperatures between 298 and 333 K and atmospheric pressure. It was shown that the methyl mercaptan solubility decreases with increasing temperature for all systems but was not much influenced, in the studied conditions, by the chelate concentration especially at larger temperatures.