High pressure phase behavior of carbon dioxide + nitrobenzene binary system at 298.15, 310.45 and 322.75 K

The phase behavior of the carbon dioxide + nitrobenzene binary system has been studied in a high-pressure variable-volume view cell using an analytical method. The phase boundaries were measured at temperatures of 298.15, 310.45 and 322.75 K under pressures between 2.76 and 12.83 MPa, and it was found that three-phase equilibria existed over a temperature range from 303.60 to 313.65 K. The experimental data could be correlated with the Peng-Robinson equation of state (PR EoS) and two binary parameters. The phase behavior of the carbon dioxide + nitrobenzene system appears to belong to Type-V according to the classification of van Konynenburg and Scott.     

High-pressure phase equilibria for the binary system carbon dioxide + benzyl alcohol

The phase equilibria of the carbon dioxide + benzyl alcohol system were measured at 298.15, 306.35 and 313.15 K, under pressures from 1.03 to 16.15 MPa. An upper critical end point (UCEP) of the binary system was identified at 307.45 K and 7.77 MPa and three-phase equilibria were observed along the liquid-liquid-vapor (LLV) equilibrium line between 279.75 and 307.45 K. The experimental data were correlated well by the Peng-Robinson equation of state with two binary parameters. According to the experimental results, the phase behavior of the carbon dioxide + benzyl alcohol system appears to belong to Type-III according to the classification of van Konynenburg and Scott.     

Volumetric properties of carbon dioxide + 2-butanol mixtures at 313.15 K

Volumetric properties were measured of carbon dioxide + 2-butanol mixtures at 313.15 K, using the vibrating tube Anton Paar DMA 512P density meter. In the present experiments, no analytical instrument was required. The saturated pressures were also measured of carbon dioxide + 2-butanol mixtures at 313.15 K by the synthetic method. The experimental data obtained were correlated with the density equation, Soave-Redlich-Kwong (SRK) equation of state, and the pseudocubic equation of state.     

Phase equilibria of carbon dioxide + 1-nonanol system at high pressures

Vapor-liquid-equilibria (VLE) and vapor-liquid-liquid equilibria (VLLE) data for the carbon dioxide + 1-nonanol system were measured at 303.15, 308.15, 313.15, 333.15, and 353.15 K. Phase behavior measurements were made in a high-pressure visual cell with variable volume, based on the static-analytic method. The pressure range under investigation was between 1.15 and 103.3 bar. The Soave-Redlich-Kwong (SRK) equation of state (EOS) coupled with both classical van der Waals and a Gibbs excess energy (G^E) mixing rules was used in semi-predictive approaches, in order to represent the complex phase behavior (critical curve, liquid-liquid-vapor (LLV) line, isothermal VLE, LLE, and VLLE) of the system. The topology of phase behavior is correctly predicted.     

Measurement and correlation of the solid-liquid-gas equilibria for carbon dioxide + normal chain saturated aliphatic hydrocarbon systems

The pressure p-temperature T projections of solid-liquid-gas (S-L-G) three-phase coexistence lines for the carbon dioxide + tetradecanoic acid (C₁₄H₂₈O₂) system, the carbon dioxide + hexadecanoic acid (C₁₆H₃₂O₂) system, and the carbon dioxide + 1-hexadecanol (C₁₆H₃₄O) were measured by the first melting point method in which the initial appearance of the liquid phase was observed. The profiles of the p-T projections of the S-L-G lines for the carbon dioxide + acid systems are similar to each other, the S-L-G equilibria for the carbon dioxide + acid systems are, however, different from that for the carbon dioxide + 1-hexadecanol systems. The experimental p-T projections of the S-L-G lines were also correlated by the Peng-Robinson equation of state and the van der Waals type mixing rules with two binary interaction parameters introduced into attraction term and size terms, respectively. The present model gave good correlation results for all of the experimental S-L-G lines with maximum average absolute relative deviations of 0.075% for the carbon dioxide + tetradecanoic acid system, 0.14% for the carbon dioxide + hexadecanoic acid system and 0.28% for the carbon dioxide + 1-hexadecanol system, respectively.     

Scott-van Konynenburg phase diagram of carbon dioxide + alkylimidazolium-based ionic liquids

As part of an IUPAC task force, this study was initiated in collaboration with a number of different laboratories throughout the world to help understand the reasons for the discrepancies observed in ionic liquid properties published in literature and to establish an acceptable data bank for the investigated properties of one representative ionic liquid. This study presents experimental high-pressure solubility data of carbon dioxide in the ionic liquid 1-hexyl-3-methylimidazolium bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)imide within the temperature range of 280-370 K and pressures up to 14 MPa. The data are compared with those obtained in other laboratories and the differences are not alarming. In addition, a discussion is presented on the carbon dioxide + ionic liquid phase behavior according to the classifications of Scott and van Konynenburg. Such an understanding can greatly help to predict what kinds of phase phenomena may be expected of such systems in regions outside those measured experimentally and can be a very valuable map when designing and optimizing processes involving gases and ionic liquids.     

Phase equilibrium data and thermodynamic modeling of the system propane + NMP + methanol at high pressures

This work reports phase equilibrium data at high pressures for the binary and ternary systems formed by propane + n-methyl-2-pyrrolidone (NMP) + methanol. Phase equilibrium measurements were performed in a high-pressure variable-volume view cell, following the static synthetic method for obtaining the experimental bubble and dew points transition data in the temperature range of 363-393 K, pressures up to 16 MPa and overall molar fraction of the lighter component varying from 0.1 to 0.998. For the systems investigated, vapor-liquid (VLE), liquid-liquid (LLE) and vapor-liquid-liquid (VLLE) phase transitions were visually recorded. Results show that the systems investigated present UCST (upper critical solution temperature) phase transition curves with an UCEP (upper critical end point) at a temperature higher than the propane critical temperature. The experimental data were modeled using the Peng-Robinson equation of state with the Wong-Sandler and the classical quadratic mixing rules, affording a satisfactory representation of the experimental data.     

Prediction of near and supercritical fatty acid ester + alcohol systems with the CPA EoS

The use of supercritical alcohols has been proposed as a non-catalytical method to produce biodiesel, overcoming some of the shortcomings related to conventional catalytic methods.In this work, the Cubic-Plus-Association equation of state is used to predict the vapor-liquid equilibria of several alcohol + fatty acid ester and alcohol + glycerol systems, in the temperature range 493-573 K and pressure range 2-12 MPa. The resulting predictions reproduce accurately the experimental data, within their experimental uncertainty.The ability to predict these phase equilibria is of primary importance for designing, operating and optimizing biodiesel production at near or supercritical conditions. The CPA EoS is shown to be a powerful prediction tool for an adequate design of the operations involved in the biodiesel production with near or supercritical alcohols.     

Measurement of phase equilibria of the systems CO2 + styrene and CO2 + vinyl acetate using different experimental methods

The experimental determination of high-pressure phase equilibria is often the only suitable method to obtain reliable data because high-pressure phase behavior is complex and difficult to predict. This contribution gives a brief classification of applied experimental methods. A new high-pressure apparatus is described, which can be used for phase-equilibrium measurements with different experimental methods, namely the analytical-isothermal method, the synthetic-isothermal method as well as the non-visual- and the visual-synthetic method. The different techniques have been tested for the measurement of the phase behavior of systems containing CO₂ + styrene and CO₂ + vinyl acetate. The measured data were compared with data from literature and discussed in terms of accuracy, advantages and drawbacks of the applied methods.     

Interfacial tension measurements and modelling of (carbon dioxide + n-alkane) and (carbon dioxide + water) binary mixtures at elevated pressures and temperatures

Supercritical carbon dioxide (CO₂) is often used as a process fluid for enhanced oil recovery. The storage of carbon dioxide in underground formations is a potential way of mitigating climate change during a transition period to more sustainable energy sources. Combining injection with subsequent trapping of the non-wetting supercritical carbon dioxide phase in the pores of a depleted reservoir is a promising scheme for allowing the continued use of fossil fuels with minimal environmental consequences. The design of such processes is ultimately linked to the confined behaviour of the fluids in question at reservoir conditions, which is largely controlled by interfacial forces. Measurements of the relevant interfacial tensions for systems containing alkanes, carbon dioxide and water are currently limited and inconsistent while models usually fail to capture the pressure dependence of the interfacial tension. In this work, a density functional theory based on the SAFT-VR equation of state was used to predict the interfacial tension of (H₂O + CO₂ + n-alkane) binary systems over wide ranges of temperature and pressure. The comparison with a new set of reported experimental data of three (n-alkane + CO₂) systems at pressures up to the critical points, as well as with the (H₂O + CO₂) system at pressures up to 60 MPa, for a temperature range of (298-443) K, is discussed.     

High-yield hydrogen production by supercritical water gasification of various feedstocks: Alcohols,glucose, glycerol and long-chain alkanes

Continuous supercritical water gasification (SCWG) of various feedstocks of C1–C16 was conducted to produce hydrogen-rich gas. These feedstocks represent model compounds of biomass such as methanol/ethanol (alcohol-type), glucose and glycerol (byproducts of biodiesel synthesis), and model compounds of petroleum fuels such as iso-octane/n-octane (gasoline), n-decane/n-dodecane (jet fuels) and n-hexadecane (diesel). Almost complete gasification of all the feedstocks was achieved at 25 MPa, 740 °C and 10 wt% with low total organic carbon values of their liquid effluents. The hydrogen gas yields of each feedstock were very similar to the theoretical equilibrium yields estimated by Gibbs free energy minimization. SCWG at different gasification temperatures (650 and 740 °C) and concentrations (10 and 20 wt%) revealed that methanol and ethanol (alcohols), the simple oxygenated hydrocarbons, were easier to be gasified, producing negligible amounts of liquid products, when compared with long-chain hydrocarbons (iso-octane and n-decane) under the identical conditions. When the feedstock concentration was increased from 10 to 20 wt%, the equilibrium hydrogen ratio from iso-octane gasification decreased from 1.02 to 0.79 while that of n-decane increased from 1.12 to 1.50, implying that a branched hydrocarbon may be more resistant to gasification in supercritical water.     

High pressure phase behavior and density of the carbon dioxide + 1-methylimidazole binary system

The phase behavior of the carbon dioxide + 1-methylimidazole binary system has been investigated in a high-pressure variable-volume view cell using an analytical method. Phase equilibrium data for the system carbon dioxide + 1-methylimidazole was measured at 293.15, 309.75 and 323.15 K. The pressure under investigation was between 2.83 and 14.16 MPa. There coexisted three phases (LLV) of the binary system, which were found in a temperature range of 297.85–313.95 K. The densities of the binary mixture at phase transition points were also measured. The experimental data were correlated well by the Peng–Robinson equation of state with two binary parameters. According to the experimental results, the phase behavior of the binary system might be classified to Type-IV or Type-V according to the classification of six principal types of binary phase diagrams.     

Mutual solubility study for 94.2:5.8 of ethanol to octane with supercritical carbon dioxide solvent

Solubility data of a mixture containing 94.2% ethanol and 5.8% octane was measured in carbon dioxide solvent using a high-pressure type phase equilibrium apparatus at pressures up to 103.5 bar and at temperature of 75 °C. The results showed that considerable separation was not achieved in this ethanol and octane ratio. However, the experimental data were then compared with the theoretical data which were obtained from two models which are regular solution theory and Redlich-Kwong equation of state. Regular solution theory is employed to each phase by applying activity coefficient expressions. Redlich-Kwong equation of state is employed to the vapor phase and then with applying fugacity coefficient, liquid phase data is obtained. The regular solution theory as a novel model approach has been found to be encouraging for the prediction of phase equilibria solubilities. It concluded that the regular solution theory model could predict two phases equilibrium data better than Redlich-Kwong equation of state.     

Foaming strategies for bioabsorbable polymers in supercritical fluid mixtures. Part I. Miscibility and foaming of poly(l-lactic acid) in carbon dioxide + acetone binary fluid mixtures

Miscibility and foaming of poly(l-lactic acid) (PLLA) in carbon dioxide + acetone mixtures have been explored over the temperature and pressure ranges from 60 to 180 °C and 14 to 61 MPa. Liquid-liquid phase boundaries were determined in a variable-volume view-cell for polymer concentrations up to 25 wt% PLLA and fluid mixtures containing 67-93 wt% CO₂ over a temperature range from 60 to 180 °C. Even though not soluble in carbon dioxide at pressures tested, the polymer could be completely solubilized in mixtures of carbon dioxide and acetone at modest pressures.Foaming experiments were carried out in different modes. Free-expansions were carried out by exposure and swelling in pure carbon dioxide in a view-cell followed by depressurization. Foaming experiments were also carried out within the confinement of specially designed molds with porous metal surfaces as boundaries to direct the fluid escape path and to generate foams with controlled overall shape and dimensions. These experiments were conducted in pure carbon dioxide and also in carbon dioxide + acetone fluid mixtures over a wide range of temperatures and pressures. Foaming in carbon dioxide + acetone mixtures was limited to 1 and 4 wt% acetone cases. Microstructures were examined using an environmental scanning electron microscope (ESEM). Depending upon the conditions employed, pore diameters ranging from 5 to 400 μm were generated. At a given temperature, smaller pores were promoted when foaming was carried out by depressurization from higher pressures. At a given pressure, smaller pores were generated from expansions at lower temperatures. Foams with larger pores were produced in mixtures of carbon dioxide with acetone.     

Phase behavior of the poly(neopentyl methacrylate) + supercritical fluid solvents + neopentyl methacrylate system and CO2 + neopentyl methacrylate mixtures at high pressure

High-pressure phase behaviors are measured for the CO₂ + neopentyl methacrylate (NPMA) system at 40, 60, 80, 100, and 120 °C and pressure up to 160 bar. This system exhibits type-I phase behavior with a continuous mixture-critical curve. The experimental results for the CO₂ + NPMA system are modeled using the Peng-Robinson equation of state. Experimental cloud-point data up to the temperature of 180 °C and the pressure of 2000 bar are presented for ternary mixtures of poly(neopentyl methacrylate) [poly(NPMA)] + supercritical solvents + NPMA systems. Cloud-point pressures of poly(NPMA) + CO₂ + NPMA system are measured in the temperature range of 60-180 °C and to pressures as high as 2000 bar with NPMA concentration of 0.0, 5.2, 19.0, 28.1 and 40.2 wt%. It appears that adding 51.2 wt% NPMA to the poly(NPMA) + CO₂ mixture does significantly change the phase behavior. Cloud-point curves are obtained for the binary mixtures of poly(NPMA) in supercritical propane, propylene, butane, 1-butene, and dimethyl ether (DME). The impact of dimethyl ether concentration on the phase behavior of the poly(NPMA) + CO₂ + x wt% DME system is also measured at temperature of 180 °C and pressure range of 36-2000 bar. This system changes the pressure-temperature (P-T) slope of the phase behavior curves from upper critical solution temperature (UCST) region to lower critical solution temperature (LCST) region as the NPMA concentration increases.     

Solubility of ethylene in 2,2,4-trimethylpentane and 1-octene mixture

With a static type equilibrium cell and the pressure decaying method, the solubility of ethylene in a mixture of 2,2,4-trimethylpentane and 1-octene was measured in the temperature range of 323.15-423.15 K, pressure range of 5-25 bar, and 1-octene concentration from 0 to 85 wt%. The experimental results show that the solubility of ethylene in a 2,2,4-trimethylpentane and 1-octane mixture increases with system pressure but decreases with system temperature.The experimental solubility data were also expressed in the vapor-liquid equilibrium relationship and correlated by the bubble pressure calculation using the Peng-Robinson equation of state (PR EOS) incorporated with the van der Waals one-fluid and the Zhong-Masuoka mixing rules. Among the deviations between the experimental and correlated results, the largest value of average absolute relative deviation is 1.73% for pressure at 423.15 K and that of average absolute deviation is 0.0024 mol fraction for vapor composition at 373.15 K by the Zhong-Masuoka mixing rule.     

Thermodynamic modeling of the dissociation conditions of hydrogen sulfide clathrate hydrate in the presence of aqueous solution of inhibitor (alcohol,salt or ethylene glycol)

Hydrate dissociation conditions of hydrogen sulfide in the presence of aqueous solution of thermodynamic inhibitor (methanol, ethanol, ethylene glycol, NaCl, KCl and CaCl₂) is modeled in this communication. A thermodynamic model is developed to correlate the hydrate dissociation conditions for the systems of H₂S + water + salt (single and mixed salts of NaCl, KCl and CaCl₂), H₂S + water + alcohol (methanol or ethanol), H₂S + water + ethylene glycol and H₂S + water + mixed salt, and methanol/ethylene glycol. Extended-UNIQUAC (e-UNIQUAC) approach is used for modeling of the activity coefficient of water in aqueous phase. The structural parameters of e-UNIQUAC model are extracted from literature but interaction parameters of this model are obtained by fitting the model with experimental data. The results of the present model are in satisfactory agreement with experimental data.     

Extension of a compressible lattice model to CO2 + cosolvent + polymer systems

We have recently proposed a compressible lattice model for CO₂ + polymer systems in which CO₂ forms complexes with one or more functional groups in the polymer. Furthermore, we have shown that this model is able to simultaneously correlate phase equilibria, sorption behavior, and glass transition temperatures in such systems. In the present work, we extend the model to ternary CO₂ + cosolvent + polymer systems and demonstrate that cloud point behavior in CO₂ + dimethyl ether + poly (?-caprolactone), CO₂ + dimethyl ether + poly (isopropyl acrylate), and CO₂ + dimethyl ether + poly (isodecyl acrylate) systems can be predicted using parameters obtained from binary data. Our results also suggest that dimethyl ether may form weak complexes with poly (?-caprolactone), poly (isopropyl acrylate), and poly (isodecyl acrylate).     

Measurements and modeling of high-pressure excess molar enthalpies and isothermal vapor-liquid equilibria of the carbon dioxide + N,N-dimethylformamide system

Mixtures of supercritical CO₂ and N,N-dimethylformamide (DMF) are very often involved in supercritical fluid applications and their thermodynamic properties are required to understand and design these processes. Excess molar enthalpies () for CO₂ + DMF mixtures were measured using an isothermal high-pressure flow calorimeter under conditions of temperature and pressure typically used in supercritical processes: 313.15 and 323.15 K at 9.00, 12.00, 15.00 and 18.00 MPa and 333.15 K at 9.00 and 15.00 MPa. The Peng-Robinson and the Soave-Redlich-Kwong equations of state were used in conjunction with the classical mixing rules to model the literature vapor-liquid equilibrium and critical data and the excess enthalpy data. In most cases, CO₂ + DMF mixtures showed very exothermic mixing and excess molar enthalpies exhibited a minimum in the CO₂-rich region. The lowest value (−4526 J mol⁻¹) was observed for a CO₂ mole fraction value of 0.713 at 9.00 MPa and 333.15 K. On the other hand, at 9.00 MPa and 323.15 and 333.15 K varies linearly with CO₂ mole fraction in the two-phase region where a gaseous and a liquid mixture of fixed composition are in equilibrium. The effects of pressure and temperature on the excess molar enthalpy are large. For a given mole fraction, mixtures become less exothermic as pressure increases or temperature decreases. These excess enthalpy data were analyzed in terms of molecular interactions, phase equilibria, density and critical parameters previously reported for CO₂ + DMF. All throughout this paper, the key concepts and modeling tools originate from the work of van der Waals: the paper is intended as a small piece of recognition of van der Waals overwhelming contributions to thermodynamics.