COSMO-based solvent selection and Aspen Plus process simulation for tar absorptive removal

•Benzene, toluene, phenol and naphthalene mixture was selected as a tar simulant.•A COSMO based thermodynamic model for tar absorbent selection was established.•Adopting the screened mixture absorbent, tar is reduced to lower than 30 mg/Nm3.•The maximum relative error between Aspen simulation and experiment is 9.5‰.•Effects of operation conditions on tar removal were simulated by Aspen Plus model.