Modeling phase equilibria for acid gas mixtures using the CPA equation of state. Part II: Binary mixtures with CO2

In Part I of this series of articles, the study of H₂S mixtures has been presented with CPA. In this study the phase behavior of CO₂ containing mixtures is modeled. Binary mixtures with water, alcohols, glycols and hydrocarbons are investigated. Both phase equilibria (vapor-liquid and liquid-liquid) and densities are considered for the mixtures involved. Different approaches for modeling pure CO₂ and mixtures are compared. CO₂ is modeled as non self-associating fluid, or as self-associating component having two, three and four association sites. Moreover, when mixtures of CO₂ with polar compounds (water, alcohols and glycols) are considered, the importance of cross-association is investigated. The cross-association is accounted for either via combining rules or using a cross-solvation energy obtained from experimental spectroscopic or calorimetric data or from ab initio calculations. In both cases two adjustable parameters are used when solvation is explicitly accounted for. The performance of CPA using the various modeling approaches for CO₂ and its interactions is presented and discussed, comparatively to various recent published investigations. It is shown that overall very good correlation is obtained for binary mixtures of CO₂ and water or alcohols when the solvation between CO₂ and the polar compound is explicitly accounted for, whereas the model is less satisfactory when CO₂ is treated as self-associating compound.     

Extension of polar GC-SAFT to systems containing some oxygenated compounds: Application to ethers, aldehydes and ketones

The GC-SAFT equation of state proposed by Tamouza et al. (2004) [51], extended to polar molecular fluids NguyenHuynh et al. (2008) [32], is here applied to model vapor-liquid phase equilibria of various binary mixtures containing at least one oxygenated compound belonging to ethers, ketones or aldehydes chemical families.These systems are modeled using a polar version of the three different versions of SAFT-EOS (original, VR-SAFT and PC-SAFT) in a predictive manner: binary interaction parameters k_ij and l_ij are all set to zero.In the case of alcohol + ether, +ketone, +aldehyde systems, a cross-association interaction between an oxygenated compound (non self-associating compound) and an alcohol is necessary to model/predict accurately the mixture VLE. The corresponding association parameters are assumed to be equal to the self-association parameters of pure 1-alkanols.The above-cited systems have been treated in a comprehensive manner. The general agreement between polar GC-SAFT and experimental data is good (within 4-5% deviation on pressure), similar to the one obtained on previously investigated systems using GC-SAFT.     

Correlations for binary phase equilibria in high-pressure carbon dioxide

The high-pressure phase equilibrium in binary mixtures of carbon dioxide and various liquids such as benzene, toluene, m-xylene, chlorobenzene, 1,2-dichlorobenzene, low molecular weight alcohols, amides and a solid, hexachlorobenzene, was modeled using the Peng–Robinson equation of state with quadratic mixing rules. Though the technique of modeling is not new, the key conclusion of the study is that the two adjustable parameters, k_ij and l_ij, vary linearly with the addition of functional groups. In addition, the adjustable parameters are found to be nearly independent of temperature and the same values of k_ij and l_ij can be used for a range of temperatures for the systems considered in the present study.     

A new formulation of the predictive NRTL-PR model in terms of kij mixing rules. Extension of the group contributions for the modeling of hydrocarbons in the presence of associating compounds

A generalized NRTL model was previously proposed for the modeling of non ideal systems and was extended to the prediction of phase equilibria under pressure according to the cubic NRTL-PR EoS. In this work, the model is reformulated with a predictive k_ij temperature and composition dependent mixing rule and new interaction parameters are proposed between permanent gases, ethane and nitrogen with hydrocarbons, ethane with water and ethylene glycol. Results obtained for excess enthalpies, liquid-vapor and liquid-liquid equilibria are compared with those provided by the literature models, such as VTPR, PPR78, CPA and SRKm. A wide variety of mixtures formed by very asymmetric compounds, such as hydrocarbons, water and ethylene glycols are considered and special attention is paid to the evolution of k_ij with respect to mole fractions and temperature.     

Topological investigations of binary and ternary mixtures: excess isentropic compressibilities

The speed of sound, U_ij 1,3-dioxolane (D) in binary mixtures (ij) with benzene, cyclohexane, n-hexane or n-heptane and U_ijk for 1,3-dioxolane in ternary mixtures (ijk) with the same hydrocarbons have been measured as a function of composition at 298.15 K. The observed data have been utilised to evaluate excess isentropic compressibility of binary, (κ_s^E)_ij and ternary (κ_s^E)_ijk mixtures using density and speed of sound values of the binary and ternary mixtures. The Moelyn-Huggins concept of interaction between the molecular surfaces of the components of a binary mixture [Polymer 12 (1971) 389] has been extended to evaluate excess isentropic compressibility of the studied binary and ternary mixtures. It has been observed that κ_s^E values predicted by a graph-theoretical approach using connectivities of third degree for binary mixtures compare reasonably well with their corresponding experimental values and κ_s^E for ternary mixtures are of the same sign and order of magnitude.     

Application of GC-PPC-SAFT EoS to amine mixtures with a predictive approach

The GC-PPC-SAFT equation of state (EoS) is a combination of a group contribution method [S. Tamouza et al., Fluid Phase Equilib. 222-223 (2004) 67-76; S. Tamouza et al., Fluid Phase Equilib. 228-229 (2005) 409-419] and the PC-SAFT EoS [J. Gross, G. Sadowski, Ind. Eng. Chem. Res. 40 (2001) 1244-1260] which was adapted to the polar molecules [D. Nguyen-Huynh et al., Fluid Phase Equilib. 264 (2008) 62-75]. It is here applied to the vapour pressure and liquid molar volume of primary, secondary and tertiary amines and their mixtures with n-alkanes, primary and secondary alcohols, using previously published group parameters. The mixing enthalpy is also evaluated for the binary systems. Binary interaction parameters k_ij are computed using a group-contribution pseudo-ionization energy, as proposed by Nguyen-Huynh [D. Nguyen-Huynh et al., Ind. Eng. Chem. Res. 47 (2008) 8847-8858]. A unique corrective parameter for the cross-association energy between amines and alcohols is used.The agreement with experimental data in correlation and prediction were found rather encouraging. The mean absolute average deviation (AAD) on bubble pressure is about 3.5% for pure amines. The mean AAD on the vapour-liquid equilibria (VLE) are respectively 2.2% and 5.5% for the amine mixtures with n-alkanes and alcohols. The AADs on saturated liquid volume are about 0.7% for the pure compounds and 0.9% for the mixtures. Prediction results are qualitatively and quantitatively accurate and they are comparable to those obtained with GC-PPC-SAFT on previously investigated systems.     

Modeling the vapor–liquid equilibria of polymer–solvent mixtures: Systems with complex hydrogen bonding behavior

The vapor–liquid equilibria of binary polymer–solvent systems was modeled using the Non-Random Hydrogen Bonding (NRHB) model. Mixtures of poly(ethylene glycol), poly(propylene glycol), poly(vinyl alcohol) and poly(vinyl acetate) with various solvents were investigated, while emphasis was put on hydrogen bonding systems, in which functional groups of the polymer chain can self-associate or cross-associate with the solvent molecules. Effort has been made to explicitly account for all hydrogen bonding interactions. The results reveal that the NRHB model offers a flexible approach to account for various self- or cross-associating interactions. In most cases model's predictions (using no binary interaction parameter k_ij = 0) and model's correlations (using one temperature independent binary interaction parameter, k_ij ≠ 0) are in satisfactory agreement with the experimental data, despite the complexity of the examined systems.     

Application of the Perturbed-Chain SAFT equation of state to polar systems

The Perturbed-Chain SAFT (PC-SAFT) equation of state is applied to pure polar substances as well as to vapor–liquid and liquid–liquid equilibria of binary mixtures containing polar low-molecular substances and polar co-polymers. For these components, the polar version of the PC-SAFT model requires four pure-component parameters as well as the functional-group dipole moment. For each binary system, only one temperature-independent binary interaction k_ij is needed. Simple mixing and combining rules are adopted for mixtures with more than one polar component without using an additional binary interaction parameter. The ability of the model to accurately describe azeotropic and non-azeotropic vapor–liquid equilibria at low and at high pressures, as well as liquid–liquid equilibria is demonstrated for various systems containing polar components. Solvent systems like acetone–alkane mixtures and co-polymer systems like poly(ethylene-co-vinyl acetate)/solvent are discussed. The results for the low-molecular systems also show the predictive capabilities of the extended PC-SAFT model.     

Solid-liquid equilibrium using the SAFT-VR equation of state: Solubility of naphthalene and acetic acid in binary mixtures and calculation of phase diagrams

A solid-liquid equilibrium (SLE) thermodynamic model based on the SAFT-VR equation of state (EOS) is presented. The model allows for the calculation of solid-liquid phase equilibria in binary mixtures at atmospheric pressure. The fluid (liquid) phase is treated with the SAFT-VR approach, where molecules are modelled as associating chains of tangentially bonded spherical segments interacting via square-well potentials of variable range. The equilibrium between the liquid and solid phase is treated following a standard thermodynamic method that requires the experimental temperature and enthalpy of fusion of the solute. The model is used to calculate the solubilities of naphthalene and acetic acid in common associating and non-associating organic solvents and to determine the solid-liquid phase behaviour of binary mixtures with simple eutectics. The SAFT-VR pure component model parameters are determined by comparison to experimental vapour pressure and saturated liquid density data with the choice of association models according to the nature of the molecule; in addition, an unlike adjustable parameter (k_ij) is used to model the solutions. The solubility data of naphthalene and acetic acid in both associating and non-associating solvents are reproduced essentially within the accuracy of the experimental measurements. The phase boundaries and the position of the eutectic points in the binary mixtures considered are, in most cases, reproduced with the accuracy commensurate with the industrial applications. Overall, the results presented show that the SAFT-VR EOS can be used with confidence for the prediction of the SLE of binary systems at atmospheric pressure.     

Calculating poly(ethylene-co-acrylic acid)-solvent phase behavior with the SAFT equation of state

Statistical Associating Fluid Theory (SAFT) is used to model the cloud-point behavior of poly(ethylene-co-acrylic acid), with up to 7 mol % acid content, in propane, butane, propylene, butene, and dimethyl ether at temperatures to 250°C and pressure to 2600 bar. The values for the pure component temperature-independent segment volumes, nonspecific interaction energies, and the numbers of segments per molecule are equal to those used for polyethylene, because these copolymers contain modest amounts of acrylic acid repeat units. Two different approaches are used to determine values of the pure component energy of hydrogen bonding, ?/k, and the binary interaction parameter, k_ij. In one approach, ?/k for acid dimerization is obtained from literature spectroscopic data and a constant value of k_ij is fit to each copolymer-solvent cloud-point curve. Increasing the value of k_ij shifts the predicted cloud-point curves to higher temperatures and pressures. For the five solvents used in this study, k_ij decreased steadily in the range of 0.040 to ?0.025 as the acid content in the copolymer increased. The predicted cloud-point curves are in good agreement with experimental data, and the impact of hydrogen bonding on the phase behavior is well represented, even if k_ij is set equal to zero. For the second approach, ?/k is set to ～ 90% of the value obtained from spectroscopic data as determined from a fit of a single poly(ethylene-co-acrylic acid)-butane cloud-point curve, while k_ij is fit to the corresponding polyethylene-solvent system. This approach requires less mixture data than the previous approach, and the calculated cloud-point curves are also in good agreement with experimental data, except for the EAA-DME systems. © 1995 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Application of association models to mixtures containing alkanolamines

Two association models, the CPA and sPC-SAFT equations of state, are applied to binary mixtures containing alkanolamines and hydrocarbons or water. CPA is applied to mixtures of MEA and DEA, while sPC-SAFT is applied to MEA-n-heptane liquid-liquid equilibria and MEA-water vapor-liquid equilibria. The role of association schemes is investigated in connection with CPA, while for sPC-SAFT emphasis is given on the role of different types of data in the determination of pure compound parameters suitable for mixture calculations. Moreover, the performance of CPA and sPC-SAFT for MEA-containing systems is compared. The investigation showed that vapor pressures and liquid densities were not sufficient for obtaining reliable parameters with either CPA or sPC-SAFT, but that at least one other type of information is needed. LLE data for a binary mixture of the associating component with an inert compound is very useful in the estimation. The simple 4-site scheme is suitable for both CPA and sPC-SAFT and little is gained by using more complex association schemes. Finally, the results of CPA and sPC-SAFT are overall similar and whatever differences are seen appear to be more related to details in the parametrization rather than the different functional forms of the two equations of state.     

Peng-Robinson equation of state for vapor-liquid equilibrium calculations for carbon dioxide + hydrocarbon mixtures

Lin, H.-M., 1984. Peng-Robinson equation of state for vapor-liquid equilibrium calculations for carbon dioxide + hydrocarbon mixtures. Fluid Phase Equilibria, 16: 151–169.Binary interaction parameters δ_ij in the Peng-Robinson equation of state have been determined from vapor-liquid equilibrium data for binary mixtures of carbon dioxide with a variety of hydrocarbons. A constant value of δ_ij ? 0.125 appears to represent the experimental data well in most cases. Comments are made on the recent work of Kato, Nagahama and Hirata, who correlated δ_ij as a function of temperature for CO₂ + n-paraffin binary mixtures.     

Towards predictive association theories

Association equations of state like SAFT, CPA and NRHB have been previously applied to many complex mixtures. In this work we focus on two of these models, the CPA and the NRHB equations of state and the emphasis is on the analysis of their predictive capabilities for a wide range of applications. We use the term predictive in two situations: (i) with no use of binary interaction parameters, and (ii) multicomponent calculations using binary interaction parameters based solely on binary data. It is shown that the CPA equation of state can satisfactorily predict CO₂-water-glycols-alkanes VLE and water-MEG-aliphatic hydrocarbons LLE using interaction parameters obtained from the binary data alone. Moreover, it is demonstrated that the NRHB equation of state is a versatile tool which can be employed equally well to mixtures with pharmaceuticals and solvents, including mixed solvents, as well as phase equilibria in mixtures containing glycols. The importance of considering the solvation of CO₂-water (in CPA) when the model is applied to multicomponent mixtures as well as of the multiple associations in heavy glycol-water mixtures (in NRHB) is investigated.     

The limited miscibility of liquids at high pressures

An accurate equation of state has been utilized to model miscibility gaps for binary liquid mixtures at high pressures. The hypothetical system studied here is an argon + argon system with imposed specific interactions. In addition to the known effects of electrostatic interactions, which may produce an upper or both an upper and a lower critical solution temperature, a strong effect on the shape of the miscibility gap is found to arise from the value of the mixture collision diameter σ_ij, determined by the constant k_ij. When k_ij is assumed to be a function of pressure (or of reduced density), it is possible to model the rare case of a miscibility gap that vanishes with increasing pressure and then reappears at very high pressures.     

Thermodynamics of mixtures containing linear monocarboxylic acids II. Binary systems showing cross-association between components: DISQUAC characterization of linear monocarboxylic acid + 1-alkanol,or + linear monocarboxylic acid mixtures

Binary mixtures containing compounds which show cross-association between them are investigated in terms of DISQUAC: namely, systems with two linear monocarboxylic acids, or with one acid and one 1-alkanol. In the former, the interactions between the COOH groups of the acids are represented by dispersive parameters only. Binary systems involving two 1-alkanols behave similarly. In the linear monocarboxylic acids + 1-alkanol mixtures, the COOH/OH interactions are represented by structure-dependent dispersive and quasichemical parameters. It is shown that those solutions with methanol and ethanol do not fit into the general scheme followed by the higher members of each homologous series considered here. A similar behaviour is found when mixtures containing methanol and benzene or CCl₄ are compared with those involving higher alkanols in the frameworks of DISQUAC or of the Barker's theory.Vapor-liquid equilibria, VLE, and excess enthalpy, H^E, data are consistently described by DISQUAC. Discrepancies are analysed.The UNIQUAC association model or an equation of state (Carnahan-Starling) with the association built in have been applied in the literature as pure correlations of the experimental data for acids + 1-alkanols systems. Their results are compared with those reported in this work by DISQUAC.     

Application of the CPA equation of state to reservoir fluids in presence of water and polar chemicals

The complex phase equilibrium between reservoir fluids and associating compounds like water, methanol and glycols has become more and more important as the increasing global energy demand pushes the oil industry to target reservoirs with extreme or complicated conditions, such as deep or offshore reservoirs. Conventional equation of state (EoS) with classical mixing rules cannot satisfactorily predict or even correlate the phase equilibrium of those systems. A promising model for such systems is the Cubic-Plus-Association (CPA) EoS, which has been successfully applied to well-defined systems containing associating compounds. In this work, a set of correlations was proposed to calculate the CPA model parameters for the narrow cuts in ill-defined C₇₊ fractions. The correlations were then combined with either the characterization method of Pedersen et al. or that of Whitson et al. to extend CPA to reservoir fluids in presence of water and polar chemical such as methanol and monoethylene glycol. With a minimum number of adjustable parameters from binary pairs, satisfactory results have been obtained for different types of phase equilibria in reservoir fluid systems and several relevant model multicomponent systems. In addition, modeling of mutual solubility between light hydrocarbons and water is also addressed.     

A cross-association model for CO2-methanol and CO2-ethanol mixtures

A cross-association model was proposed for CO₂-alcohol mixtures based on the statistical associating fluid theory (SAFT). CO₂ was treated as a pseudo-associating molecule and both the self-association between alcohol hydroxyls and the cross-association between CO₂ and alcohol hydroxyls were considered. The equilibrium properties from low temperature-pressure to high temperature-pressure were investigated using this model. The calculated p-x and p-ρ diagrams of CO₂-methanol and CO₂-ethanol mixtures agreed with the experimental data. The results showed that when the cross-association was taken into account for Helmholtz free energy, the calculated equilibrium properties could be significantly improved, and the error prediction of the three phase equilibria and triple points in low temperature regions could be avoided.     

Calculation of pVT and vapor–liquid equilibria of copolymer systems based on an equation of state

A molecular thermodynamic model for copolymers and their mixtures has been established by adopting the hard-sphere-chain fluid as a reference and a square-well (SW) term as well as an association term as a perturbation. The latter is introduced to consider various associating functions in a chain-like molecule based on the shield-sticky model of chemical association. The model adopts five molecular parameters, i.e. r_i, σ_ii ε_ii/k, δε_ii/k and ω_ii, for a polymer species i, where the last two are responsible for association. These parameters can be obtained from the pVT data of the corresponding molten homopolymer i. The model can be used to correlate pVT data for molten copolymers with an adjustable parameter describing the interaction between different polymer species. The model can also be used to calculate vapor–liquid equilibria (VLE) for copolymer solutions with three adjustable interaction parameters.     

Prediction of the second cross virial coefficients of nonpolar binary mixtures

The binary interaction parameter, k_ij, of 268 nonpolar mixtures were determined from the database of second cross virial coefficients containing 1728 experimental data points by fitting the second cross virial coefficients with a new correlation for pure compounds [L. Meng, Y.Y. Duan, L. Li, Fluid Phase Equilib. 226 (2004) 109–120] and classical mixing rules. Regularity distributions were found for both n-alkane/n-alkane binaries and fluorocarbon/fluorocarbon binaries. Correlations were developed following Tsonopoulos’ ideas [C. Tsonopoulos, Adv. Chem. Ser. 182 (1979) 143–162] with the quantity of binary compounds enlarged using Dymond's latest complication [J.H. Dymond, K.N. Marsh, R.C. Wilhoit, Virial Coefficients of Pure Gases and Mixtures, Subvolume B, Virial Coefficients of Mixtures, Series IV/21B, Landolt-Börnstein, 2002]. Correlations were also developed for inorganic/n-alkane binaries using new k_ij values. The predictions do not need any thermodynamic property parameters besides the carbon number. Comparisons with the existing correlations show that the present work is more accurate for nonpolar binary mixtures.