Acoustic determination of ideal-gas heat capacity and second virial coefficients of some refrigerants between 250 and 420 K

An apparatus for speed-of-sound measurements with a spherical resonator was adapted for temperatures up to 42(I K. This included new microphones with a special wiring, a pressure indicator which can be thermostatted to 420 K, and some installations to avoid temperature gradients. Calibration of the radius of the resonator with argon was extended to higher temperatures. Speed-of-sound measurements up to 420 K and 0.5 MPa were done onl,l-dilluoroethane (R152a). 1.l,l-trilluoroethane (R 143a ),l,l,l-chlorodifluoroethane (R 142b ), l,1,1,2-tetralluoroethane (R134a), and 2.2.2-trifluoroethanol. The ideal-gas heat capacities coincide with the statistical mechanical values, except for R134a, where our values as well as recent literature data are below the values calculated from spectroscopy. The reduced second virial coefficients can be interpreted in terms of the dipole moment and the angle between dipole moment and molecular axis. For the associated substance trifluoroethanol values of the third virial coefficient are given, which are appreciably negative at low temperatures.Paper presented at the Twelfth Symposium on Thermophysical Properties, June 19–24, 1994 Boulder, Colorado, U.S.A.