Cubic
equations of state
In physics, chemistry, and thermodynamics, an equation of state is a thermodynamic equation relating state variables, which describe the state of matter under a given set of physical conditions, such as pressure, volume, temperature, or in ...
are a specific class of thermodynamic models for modeling the pressure of a
gas
Gas is one of the four fundamental states of matter (the others being solid, liquid, and plasma).
A pure gas may be made up of individual atoms (e.g. a noble gas like neon), elemental molecules made from one type of atom (e.g. oxygen), or ...
as a function of temperature and density and which can be rewritten as a
cubic function
In mathematics, a cubic function is a function of the form f(x)=ax^3+bx^2+cx+d
where the coefficients , , , and are complex numbers, and the variable takes real values, and a\neq 0. In other words, it is both a polynomial function of degre ...
of the
molar volume
In chemistry and related fields, the molar volume, symbol ''V''m, or \tilde V of a substance is the ratio of the volume occupied by a substance to the amount of substance, usually given at a given temperature and pressure. It is equal to the mola ...
.
Equations of state are generally applied in the fields of
physical chemistry
Physical chemistry is the study of macroscopic and microscopic phenomena in chemical systems in terms of the principles, practices, and concepts of physics such as motion, energy, force, time, thermodynamics, quantum chemistry, statistical ...
and
chemical engineering
Chemical engineering is an engineering field which deals with the study of operation and design of chemical plants as well as methods of improving production. Chemical engineers develop economical commercial processes to convert raw materials in ...
, particularly in the modeling of
vapor–liquid equilibrium
In thermodynamics and chemical engineering, the vapor–liquid equilibrium (VLE) describes the distribution of a chemical species between the vapor phase and a liquid phase.
The concentration of a vapor in contact with its liquid, especially a ...
and chemical engineering
process design
In chemical engineering, process design is the choice and sequencing of units for desired physical and/or chemical transformation of materials. Process design is central to chemical engineering, and it can be considered to be the summit of that ...
.
Van der Waals equation of state
The
van der Waals equation
In chemistry and thermodynamics, the Van der Waals equation (or Van der Waals equation of state) is an equation of state which extends the ideal gas law to include the effects of interaction between molecules of a gas, as well as accounting fo ...
of state may be written as
:
where
is the
absolute temperature
Thermodynamic temperature is a quantity defined in thermodynamics as distinct from kinetic theory or statistical mechanics.
Historically, thermodynamic temperature was defined by Kelvin in terms of a macroscopic relation between thermodynamic ...
,
is the
pressure
Pressure (symbol: ''p'' or ''P'') is the force applied perpendicular to the surface of an object per unit area over which that force is distributed. Gauge pressure (also spelled ''gage'' pressure)The preferred spelling varies by country a ...
,
is the
molar volume
In chemistry and related fields, the molar volume, symbol ''V''m, or \tilde V of a substance is the ratio of the volume occupied by a substance to the amount of substance, usually given at a given temperature and pressure. It is equal to the mola ...
and
is the
universal gas constant
The molar gas constant (also known as the gas constant, universal gas constant, or ideal gas constant) is denoted by the symbol or . It is the molar equivalent to the Boltzmann constant, expressed in units of energy per temperature increment per ...
. Note that
, where
is the
volume
Volume is a measure of occupied three-dimensional space. It is often quantified numerically using SI derived units (such as the cubic metre and litre) or by various imperial or US customary units (such as the gallon, quart, cubic inch). Th ...
, and
, where
is the number of moles,
is the number of particles, and
is the
Avogadro constant
The Avogadro constant, commonly denoted or , is the proportionality factor that relates the number of constituent particles (usually molecules, atoms or ions) in a sample with the amount of substance in that sample. It is an SI defining con ...
. These definitions apply to all equations of state below as well.
The substance-specific constants
and
can be calculated from the
critical properties and
(noting that
is the molar volume at the critical point and
is the critical pressure) as:
:
:
Expressions for
written as functions of
may also be obtained and are often used to parameterize the equation because the critical temperature and pressure are readily accessible to experiment. They are
:
:
Proposed in 1873, the van der Waals equation of state was one of the first to perform markedly better than the ideal gas law. In this landmark equation
is called the attraction parameter and
the repulsion parameter or the effective molecular volume. While the equation is definitely superior to the ideal gas law and does predict the formation of a liquid phase, the agreement with experimental data is limited for conditions where the liquid forms. While the van der Waals equation is commonly referenced in textbooks and papers for historical reasons, it is now obsolete. Other modern equations of only slightly greater complexity are much more accurate.
The van der Waals equation may be considered as the ideal gas law, "improved" due to including two non-ideal contributions to the equation. Consider the van der Waals equation in the form
:
as compared to the ideal gas equation
:
The form of the van der Waals equation can be motivated as follows:
# Molecules are thought of as particles which occupy a finite volume. Thus the physical volume is not accessible to all molecules at any given moment, raising the pressure slightly compared to what would be expected for point particles. Thus (
), an "effective" molar volume, is used instead of
in the first term.
# While ideal gas molecules do not interact, real molecules will exhibit attractive
van der Waals force
In molecular physics, the van der Waals force is a distance-dependent interaction between atoms or molecules. Unlike ionic or covalent bonds, these attractions do not result from a chemical electronic bond; they are comparatively weak and t ...
s if they are sufficiently close together. The attractive forces, which are proportional to the density
, tend to retard the collisions that molecules have with the container walls and lower the pressure. The number of collisions that are so affected is also proportional to the density. Thus, the pressure is lowered by an amount proportional to
, or inversely proportional to the squared molar volume.
With the reduced state variables, i.e.
,
and
, the reduced form of the van der Waals equation can be formulated:
:
The benefit of this form is that for given
and
, the reduced volume of the liquid and gas can be calculated directly using
Cardano's method for the reduced cubic form:
:
For
and
, the system is in a state of vapor–liquid equilibrium. In that situation, the reduced cubic equation of state yields 3 solutions. The largest and the lowest solution are the gas and liquid reduced volume. In this situation, the
Maxwell construction
In thermodynamic equilibrium, a necessary condition for stability is that pressure P does not increase with volume V. This basic consistency requirement—and similar ones for other ''conjugate'' pairs of variables—are sometimes violated in analy ...
is sometimes used to model the pressure as a function of molar volume.
The
compressibility factor
In thermodynamics, the compressibility factor (Z), also known as the compression factor or the gas deviation factor, describes the deviation of a real gas from ideal gas behaviour. It is simply defined as the ratio of the molar volume of a gas ...
is often used to characterize non-ideal behavior. For the van der Waals equation in reduced form, this becomes
:
At the critical point,
.
Redlich–Kwong equation of state
Introduced in 1949,
the
Redlich–Kwong equation of state
In physics and thermodynamics, the Redlich–Kwong equation of state is an empirical, algebraic equation that relates temperature, pressure, and volume of gases. It is generally more accurate than the van der Waals equation and the ideal gas equ ...
was considered to be a notable improvement to the van der Waals equation. It is still of interest primarily due to its relatively simple form.
While superior to the van der Waals equation in some respects, it performs poorly with respect to the liquid phase and thus cannot be used for accurately calculating
vapor–liquid equilibria. However, it can be used in conjunction with separate liquid-phase correlations for this purpose. The equation is given below, as are relationships between its parameters and the critical constants:
:
Another, equivalent form of the Redlich–Kwong equation is the expression of the model's
compressibility factor
In thermodynamics, the compressibility factor (Z), also known as the compression factor or the gas deviation factor, describes the deviation of a real gas from ideal gas behaviour. It is simply defined as the ratio of the molar volume of a gas ...
:
:
The Redlich–Kwong equation is adequate for calculation of gas phase properties when the reduced pressure (defined in the previous section) is less than about one-half of the ratio of the temperature to the reduced temperature,
:
The Redlich–Kwong equation is consistent with the
theorem of corresponding states
According to van der Waals, the theorem of corresponding states (or principle/law of corresponding states) indicates that all fluids, when compared at the same reduced temperature and reduced pressure, have approximately the same compressibility fa ...
. When the equation expressed in reduced form, an identical equation is obtained for all gases:
:
where
is:
:
In addition, the compressibility factor at the critical point is the same for every substance:
:
This is an improvement over the
van der Waals equation prediction of the critical compressibility factor, which is
. Typical experimental values are
(
carbon dioxide
Carbon dioxide ( chemical formula ) is a chemical compound made up of molecules that each have one carbon atom covalently double bonded to two oxygen atoms. It is found in the gas state at room temperature. In the air, carbon dioxide is t ...
),
(
water
Water (chemical formula ) is an inorganic, transparent, tasteless, odorless, and nearly colorless chemical substance, which is the main constituent of Earth's hydrosphere and the fluids of all known living organisms (in which it acts as ...
), and
(
nitrogen
Nitrogen is the chemical element with the symbol N and atomic number 7. Nitrogen is a nonmetal and the lightest member of group 15 of the periodic table, often called the pnictogens. It is a common element in the universe, estimated at seve ...
).
Soave modification of Redlich–Kwong
A modified form of the Redlich–Kwong equation was proposed by Soave.
It takes the form
:
:
:
:
:
:
:
where ''ω'' is the
acentric factor
The acentric factor is a conceptual number introduced by Kenneth Pitzer in 1955, proven to be useful in the description of fluids. It has become a standard for the phase characterization of single & pure components, along with other state descript ...
for the species.
The formulation for
above is actually due to Graboski and Daubert. The original formulation from Soave is:
:
for hydrogen:
:
By substituting the variables in the reduced form and the
compressibility factor
In thermodynamics, the compressibility factor (Z), also known as the compression factor or the gas deviation factor, describes the deviation of a real gas from ideal gas behaviour. It is simply defined as the ratio of the molar volume of a gas ...
at critical point
:
we obtain
:
:
thus leading to
:
Thus, the Soave–Redlich–Kwong equation in reduced form only depends on ''ω'' and
of the substance, contrary to both the VdW and RK equation which are consistent with the
theorem of corresponding states
According to van der Waals, the theorem of corresponding states (or principle/law of corresponding states) indicates that all fluids, when compared at the same reduced temperature and reduced pressure, have approximately the same compressibility fa ...
and the reduced form is one for all substances:
:
We can also write it in the polynomial form, with:
:
:
In terms of the compressibility factor, we have:
:
.
This equation may have up to three roots. The maximal root of the cubic equation generally corresponds to a vapor state, while the minimal root is for a liquid state. This should be kept in mind when using cubic equations in calculations, e.g., of
vapor-liquid equilibrium.
In 1972 G. Soave replaced the
term of the Redlich–Kwong equation with a function ''α''(''T'',''ω'') involving the temperature and the acentric factor (the resulting equation is also known as the Soave–Redlich–Kwong equation of state; SRK EOS). The ''α'' function was devised to fit the vapor pressure data of hydrocarbons and the equation does fairly well for these materials.
Note especially that this replacement changes the definition of ''a'' slightly, as the
is now to the second power.
Volume translation of Peneloux et al. (1982)
The SRK EOS may be written as
:
where
:
where
and other parts of the SRK EOS is defined in the SRK EOS section.
A downside of the SRK EOS, and other cubic EOS, is that the liquid molar volume is significantly less accurate than the gas molar volume. Peneloux et alios (1982)
proposed a simple correction for this by introducing a volume translation
:
where
is an additional fluid component parameter that translates the molar volume slightly. On the liquid branch of the EOS, a small change in molar volume corresponds to a large change in pressure. On the gas branch of the EOS, a small change in molar volume corresponds to a much smaller change in pressure than for the liquid branch. Thus, the perturbation of the molar gas volume is small. Unfortunately, there are two versions that occur in science and industry.
In the first version only
is translated,
and the EOS becomes
:
In the second version both
and
are translated, or the translation of
is followed by a renaming of the composite parameter .
This gives
:
The ''c''-parameter of a fluid mixture is calculated by
:
The ''c''-parameter of the individual fluid components in a petroleum gas and oil can be estimated by the correlation
:
where the Rackett compressibility factor
can be estimated by
:
A nice feature with the volume translation method of Peneloux et al. (1982) is that it does not affect the vapor–liquid equilibrium calculations.
This method of volume translation can also be applied to other cubic EOSs if the ''c''-parameter correlation is adjusted to match the selected EOS.
Peng–Robinson equation of state
The Peng–Robinson equation of state (PR EOS) was developed in 1976 at The
University of Alberta
The University of Alberta, also known as U of A or UAlberta, is a public research university located in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. It was founded in 1908 by Alexander Cameron Rutherford,"A Gentleman of Strathcona – Alexander Cameron Ruth ...
by
Ding-Yu Peng and Donald Robinson in order to satisfy the following goals:
# The parameters should be expressible in terms of the
critical properties and the
acentric factor
The acentric factor is a conceptual number introduced by Kenneth Pitzer in 1955, proven to be useful in the description of fluids. It has become a standard for the phase characterization of single & pure components, along with other state descript ...
.
# The model should provide reasonable accuracy near the critical point, particularly for calculations of the
compressibility factor
In thermodynamics, the compressibility factor (Z), also known as the compression factor or the gas deviation factor, describes the deviation of a real gas from ideal gas behaviour. It is simply defined as the ratio of the molar volume of a gas ...
and liquid density.
# The mixing rules should not employ more than a single binary interaction parameter, which should be independent of temperature, pressure, and composition.
# The equation should be applicable to all calculations of all fluid properties in natural gas processes.
The equation is given as follows:
:
In polynomial form:
:
:
:
For the most part the Peng–Robinson equation exhibits performance similar to the Soave equation, although it is generally superior in predicting the liquid densities of many materials, especially nonpolar ones. The
departure functions of the Peng–Robinson equation are given on a separate article.
The analytic values of its characteristic constants are:
:
:
:
Peng–Robinson–Stryjek–Vera equations of state
PRSV1
A modification to the attraction term in the Peng–Robinson equation of state published by Stryjek and Vera in 1986 (PRSV) significantly improved the model's accuracy by introducing an adjustable pure component parameter and by modifying the polynomial fit of the acentric factor.
The modification is:
:
where
is an adjustable pure component parameter. Stryjek and Vera published pure component parameters for many compounds of industrial interest in their original journal article. At reduced temperatures above 0.7, they recommend to set
and simply use
. For alcohols and water the value of
may be used up to the critical temperature and set to zero at higher temperatures.
PRSV2
A subsequent modification published in 1986 (PRSV2) further improved the model's accuracy by introducing two additional pure component parameters to the previous attraction term modification.
The modification is:
:
where
,
, and
are adjustable pure component parameters.
PRSV2 is particularly advantageous for
VLE calculations. While PRSV1 does offer an advantage over the Peng–Robinson model for describing thermodynamic behavior, it is still not accurate enough, in general, for phase equilibrium calculations.
The highly non-linear behavior of phase-equilibrium calculation methods tends to amplify what would otherwise be acceptably small errors. It is therefore recommended that PRSV2 be used for equilibrium calculations when applying these models to a design. However, once the equilibrium state has been determined, the phase specific thermodynamic values at equilibrium may be determined by one of several simpler models with a reasonable degree of accuracy.
One thing to note is that in the PRSV equation, the parameter fit is done in a particular temperature range which is usually below the critical temperature. Above the critical temperature, the PRSV alpha function tends to diverge and become arbitrarily large instead of tending towards 0. Because of this, alternate equations for alpha should be employed above the critical point. This is especially important for systems containing hydrogen which is often found at temperatures far above its critical point. Several alternate formulations have been proposed. Some well known ones are by Twu et al. and by Mathias and Copeman.
Peng–Robinson–Babalola equation of state (PRB)
Babalola modified the Peng–Robinson Equation of state as: