Modelling the aqueous solubility of hydrocarbons with the CPA EoS
Advancing the chemical engineering fundamentals
Thermodynamics: Applications of Equations of State (T2-1b)
Keywords: CPA EoS, Cross Association, Hydrocarbons, Phase equilibria, Water
The solubility of hydrocarbons in aqueous mixtures is important in several chemical engineering operations such as liquid-liquid extraction, distillation and reaction in aqueous media and in products like drugs, agrochemicals, cosmetics, paints and detergents. Describing the liquid-liquid equilibria of these systems is even more important for environmental purposes as it may determine the fate of organic pollutants.
Some thermodynamic models have been proposed for this purpose. For water + alkane systems, equations of state such as the Statistical Associating Fluid Theory (SAFT), the Associated-Perturbed-Anisotopic-Chain-Theory (APACT) and the Cubic Plus Association (CPA) EoS had already shown to be accurate models to describe the hydrocarbon/water mutual solubilities. Particularly, CPA was successfully applied to cross-associating systems containing water, aromatics, alcohols and glycols.
In this work, the ability of the CPA EoS for modeling the liquid-liquid equilibria of aqueous mixtures with several alkanes and aromatic compounds in wide temperature and pressure ranges was evaluated. The results suggest that CPA is an adequate model for obtaining the required solubilities with small deviations with respect to literature data.
Presented Monday 17, 15:40 to 16:00, in session Thermodynamics: Applications of Equations of State (T2-1b).
