Vapour–liquid equilibria of the ternary mixture (1-pentanol+2,2,4-trimethylpentane+heptane) and the binary mixture (2,2,4-trimethylpentane+heptane) at T=313.15K for the characterization of second generation biofuels

•VLE measurements are reported for the ternary mixture 1-pentanol+2,2,4-trimethylpentane+heptane.•The experimental data were correlated using Wohl’s expansion, Wilson, NRTL and UNIQUAC.•A positive deviation from the ideal behavior without azeotrope is observed for the ternary system.•VLE data for 2,2,4-trimethylpentane+heptane are reported and ideal behavior is observed.•Good results are obtained for the prediction of the ternary systems using binary data reduction parameters. Accurate experimental data of vapor–liquid equilibria (VLE) are reported for the ternary system (1-pentanol+2,2,4-trimethylpentane+heptane) and the binary system (2,2,4-trimethylpentane+heptane) at T=313.15K. An isothermal total pressure cell was used for measuring the VLE. The Barker’s method for data reduction provided correlations for the excess Gibbs energy using the Margules equation for the binary system and the Wohl expansion for the ternary system. The Wilson, NRTL and UNIQUAC models were applied successfully to the binary and the ternary systems reported.