Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) is used to investigate the thermal properties of n-octadecane and lauryl alcohol and their binary system. The experimental results show that the phase diagram of the n-octadecane + lauryl alcohol binary system presents a eutectic behavior for the solid-liquid equilibrium line, and the corresponding mole fraction of n-octadecane in eutectic point is 0.257. The eutectic melting temperature (T-E) is 292 K, and the latent heat of melting of eutectic mixture (Delta H-fus(E)) is 245 J . g(-1). Furthermore, the activity coefficients of components in mixtures of n-octadecane + lauryl alcohol have been correlated by the Wilson, NRTL and UNIQUAC models, respectively. The best correlation of the solid-liquid equilibrium data has been obtained by the NRTL equation, in which the average root-mean-square deviation of temperature is 0.15 K. (C) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.