Solubility of Carbon Dioxide in Water at Various Temperatures and Pressures

Both of these facts are employed in the carbonation process of sodas and beer and some sparkling wines. Low-temperature conditions and CO2 pressures of 3 to 4 atm are used to enhance the dissolution of carbon dioxide gas in water. The graph in Fig. 3.1.1 presents the solubility of carbon dioxide in water at various temperatures and pressures. The parameter used to express CO2 solubility is... 

Solubility of Carbon Dioxide in Water at Various Temperatures and Pressures, in Handbook of Chemistry and Physics, 74th ed., ed. David R. Lide (Boca Raton, FL, CRC Press 1993), 6-7. 

Solubility of Carbon Dioxide in Water at Various Temperatures and Pressures.5-153... 

Wiebe, R., Gaddy, V. L. (1940). The solubility of carbon dioxide in water at various temperatures from 12 to 40° and at pressures to 500 atmospheres. Critical phenomena. Journal of the American Chemical Society, 62, 815-817. 

The phase behaviour of water and carbon dioxide has been studied by various authors, so literature data in wide ranges of temperature and pressure is available. Selected data for the relevant pressure and temperature conditions are presented in Fig. 15.9 [15,16]. CO2 has the lowest solubility in water barely exceeding 6 wt% at 313 K and 20.3 MPa. The effect of pressure on solubility weakens above 5 MPa as depicted by the near vertical isotherm progress. The composition of the light phase shows around 4 wt% water vapour at 1.1 MPa and 373 K. 

Popular supercritical solvent choices include pure carbon dioxide (CO2) and mixtures of CO2 with various co-solvents. These C02-based solvents have reasonably low critical temperatures, which makes them ideal for the synthesis of complex molecules that might be more thermally labile at higher temperatures such as in supercritical water. Furthermore, the low costs of both CO2 and H2O, their ease in handling, environmental benignness and the ability to adjust solubility by changing density with pressure to induce phase separation are all attractive characteristics. 

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