Liquid Equilibrium Experimental Methods

Loren C. Wilson, B.S. Sr. Research Specialist, The Dow Chemical Company (Liquid Density, Viscosity, and Interfacial Tension Phase Diagrams Liquid-Liquid Equilibrium Experimental Methods Data Correlation Equations Table of Selected Partition Ratio Data)... 

For additional discussion of laboratory techniques, see Liquid-Liquid Equilibrium Experimental Methods as well as High-Throughput Experimental Methods under Solvent-Screening Methods. ... 

A significant advantage of the Wilson equation is that it can be used to calculate the equilibrium compositions for multicomponent systems using only the Wilson coefficients obtained for the binary pairs that comprise the multicomponent mixture. The Wilson coefficients for several hundred binary systems are given in the DECHEMA vapour-liquid data collection, DECHEMA (1977), and by Hirata (1975). Hirata gives methods for calculating the Wilson coefficients from vapour liquid equilibrium experimental data. 

Liquid-liquid equilibrium experimental data, 111-229 experimental methods, 5... 

Vapor-liquid equilibrium experimental data, 21-60 experimental methods, 2 Volume... 

Unfortunately, many commonly used methods for parameter estimation give only estimates for the parameters and no measures of their uncertainty. This is usually accomplished by calculation of the dependent variable at each experimental point, summation of the squared differences between the calculated and measured values, and adjustment of parameters to minimize this sum. Such methods routinely ignore errors in the measured independent variables. For example, in vapor-liquid equilibrium data reduction, errors in the liquid-phase mole fraction and temperature measurements are often assumed to be absent. The total pressure is calculated as a function of the estimated parameters, the measured temperature, and the measured liquid-phase mole fraction. 

These models are semiempirical and are based on the concept that intermolecular forces will cause nonrandom arrangement of molecules in the mixture. The models account for the arrangement of molecules of different sizes and the preferred orientation of molecules. In each case, the models are fitted to experimental binary vapor-liquid equilibrium data. This gives binary interaction parameters that can be used to predict multicomponent vapor-liquid equilibrium. In the case of the UNIQUAC equation, if experimentally determined vapor-liquid equilibrium data are not available, the Universal Quasi-chemical Functional Group Activity Coefficients (UNIFAC) method can be used to estimate UNIQUAC parameters from the molecular structures of the components in the mixture3. 

Although the methods developed here can be used to predict liquid-liquid equilibrium, the predictions will only be as good as the coefficients used in the activity coefficient model. Such predictions can be critical when designing liquid-liquid separation systems. When predicting liquid-liquid equilibrium, it is always better to use coefficients correlated from liquid-liquid equilibrium data, rather than coefficients based on the correlation of vapor-liquid equilibrium data. Equally well, when predicting vapor-liquid equilibrium, it is always better to use coefficients correlated to vapor-liquid equilibrium data, rather than coefficients based on the correlation of liquid-liquid equilibrium data. Also, when calculating liquid-liquid equilibrium with multicomponent systems, it is better to use multicomponent experimental data, rather than binary data. 

In the book, Vapor-Liquid Equilibrium Data Collection, Gmehling and colleagues (1981), nonlinear regression has been applied to develop several different vapor-liquid equilibria relations suitable for correlating numerous data systems. As an example, p versus xx data for the system water (1) and 1,4 dioxane (2) at 20.00°C are listed in Table El2.3. The Antoine equation coefficients for each component are also shown in Table E12.3. A12 and A21 were calculated by Gmehling and colleaques using the Nelder-Mead simplex method (see Section 6.1.4) to be 2.0656 and 1.6993, respectively. The vapor phase mole fractions, total pressure, and the deviation between predicted and experimental values of the total p... 

Acetic Acid-Water Mixture. CRUZ (4) chose this example to illustrate his method of representation of vapor-liquid equilibria of volatile weak electrolyte and to show how to obtain simply from experimental vapor-liquid equilibrium data the significant parameters. ... 

In excerpt I5D, Walker begins with a statement of the topic (solvation at hydrophobic and hydrophilic solid-liquid interfaces) and then moves directly to the signihcance of the work. He emphasizes the need for information on interfacial phenomena and points out possible applications of his work for other areas of science (molecular recognitions, electron transfer, and macromolecular self-assembly). He goes on to describe his experimental methods, focusing on three aspects of his approach (in order of difficulty) equilibrium measurements, time-resolved studies, and distance-dependent measurements of solvation strength. 

Until recently the ability to predict the vapor-liquid equilibrium of electrolyte systems was limited and only empirical or approximate methods using experimental data, such as that by Van Krevelen (7) for the ammonia-hydrogen sulfide-water system, were used to design sour water strippers. Recently several advances in the prediction and correlation of thermodynamic properties of electrolyte systems have been published by Pitzer (5), Meissner (4), and Bromley ). Edwards, Newman, and Prausnitz (2) established a similar framework for weak electrolyte systems. 

The design of azeotropic or extractive distillation columns, as with con-A ventional columns, demands a knowledge of the vapor-liquid equilibrium properties of the system to be distilled. Such knowledge is obtained experimentally or calculated from other properties of the components of the system. Since the systems in azeotropic or extractive distillation processes have at least three components, direct measurement of the equilibrium properties is laborious and, therefore, expensive, so methods of calculation of these data are desirable. 

Worth noting is the fact that Barker s method does not require experimental j/f values. Thus the correlating parameters a, P, and so on, can be evaluated from a P-Xi data subset. Common practice now is, in fact, to measure just such data. They are, of course, not subject to a test for consistency by the Gibbs/Duhem equation. The world s store of VLE data has been compiled by Gmehhng et al. Vapor-Liquid Equilibrium Data Collection, Chemistry Data Series, vol. I, parts 1-8, DECHEMA, Frankfurt am Main, 1979-1990). 

The application of UNIFAC to the solid-liquid equilibrium of sohds, such as naphthalene and anthracene, in nonaqueous mixed solvents provided quite accurate results [11]. Unfortunately, the accuracy of UNIFAC regarding the solubility of solids in aqueous solutions is low [7-9]. Large deviations from the experimental activity coefficients at infinite dilution and the experimental octanol/water partition coefficients have been reported [8,9] when the classical old version of UNIFAC interaction parameters [4] was used. To improve the prediction of the activity coefficients at infinite dilution and of the octanol/water partition coefficients of environmentally significant substances, special ad hoc sets of parameters were introduced [7-9]. The reason is that the UNIFAC parameters were determined mostly using the equihbrium properties of mixtures composed of low molecular weight molecules. Also, the UNIFAC method cannot be applied to the phase equilibrium in systems containing... 

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