Combined effects of salinity and temperature on the solubility of organic compounds

This study deals with the solubility limits of organic liquids liable to be spilled at sea during ship-wrecking or other incidents at sea. The effects under consideration are induced by both salinity and temperature. The former is described through use of the Setchenov relationship, and the latter by using the Van’t Hoff equation. A coupling of both relationships led to an equation applicable to scarcely soluble liquids and expressed in a simplified form usable in decision-support systems as a result of the choice of the reference state when writing the thermodynamic relationships. The mathematical relation we found was tested on experimental data about four compounds, i.e. dimethyldisulfide (DMDS), methyl methacrylate (MMA), 1-butanol (1-But), and methyl ethyl ketone (MEK), chosen because of their wide use in the industry and frequent transport by sea. All of them were studied at four salinity values and five temperatures, and the mathematical relation under test proved to be quite satisfactory.