Abstract Experimental (liquid + liquid) equilibrium (LLE) data were determined for a ternary system (polyvinylpyrrolidone + MgSO4 + water) at various temperatures of (298.15, 303.15, and 308.15) K. The UNIQAC, modified regular solution, modified Wilson and Chen-NRTL models were used to correlate the experimental tie-line data. The results show that at each temperature, the quality of fitting is better with the Chen-NRTL model. 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.