Vapour-liquid equilibrium measurements and extractive distillation process design for separation of azeotropic mixture (dimethyl carbonate + ethanol)

•The entrainers p-xylene, butyl propionate and isobutyl acetate were selected.•The VLE data for (DMC + entrainers) and (ethanol + isobutyl acetate) were measured.•The measured VLE data were correlated by the NRTL, UNIQUAC and Wilson models.•The extractive distillation process for separating DMC and ethanol was proposed.