Chapter 5 – Single Phase Systems

Chemical engineering calculations rely heavily on the availability of

physical properties of materials. There are three common methods used to
find these properties. These include measuring them, looking them up in the
available literature, and finally they can be estimated using physical models,
that usually come in the form of equations.

1. Properties of Pure Ideal Components

Definitions

Correlation: This is a mathematical fit of experimental data (usually using

statistical methods). These are used either in place of or in conjunction with
physically based models.

Equations of State (EOS): These are correlation or physically based

equations that relate Pressure, Volume, and Temperature that exist inside a
material (typically gas). These three thermodynamic variables are easily
measured and make up what is known as a PVT relationship.

Incompressible: This term is used to specify the assumption of constant

density of a material. Incompressibility is closely followed by liquids and
solids under many situations of interest.

Density of Liquids and Solids

Solutions and Mixtures. The density of a liquid or solid solution can be

approximated by the following:

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Here, xi is the mass fraction of component i. The density of the solution,  , is
found by adding contributions from each pure component density i
according to its mass fraction. The more you have of i, the more it affects
the total average density. Equation 2 assumes that the total volume is the
sum of the individual volumes; although this additive volume concept may
make sense intuitively it is not necessarily true. Volume additivity is
relatively accurate for solutions of liquids with similar molecular structures.
In general, the accuracy of equation 1 over equation 2 depends on the system
considered.

Density of Gases/Ideal Gas Equation

Gases are highly compressible, and therefore the incompressibility

assumption does not apply. EOS’s then must include the pressure,
temperature, and volume to account for the variation of the density of a gas.
The simplest of these models is the ideal gas equation of state:

PV  nRT (3)

where
P Absolute Pressure
Volume (Volumetric Flow Rate,
V (V& ,V̂ )
Specific molar volume [= volume of 1 mole of gas particles])
n (n&) Number of moles (molar flow rate)
R Ideal gas constant
T Absolute temperature
m Mass
M Molar mass (molecular weight)
 Density

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Equation 3 can be rewritten in other forms. These alternate forms may be
useful depending on the situation; they are given below:

The ideal gas EOS is based on the primary assumptions that

 There are no intermolecular forces between the gas particles.

 The volumes of molecules are negligible (i.e. the gas particles can be
treated as “point” particles).

Understanding these assumptions helps to understand the utility and

limitations of this EOS. For example the ideal gas assumption cannot be
used at higher pressures because molecules will interact with each other.
Also, at lower temperatures there can be substantial error associated with the
ideal gas equation, because molecules do not have enough thermal energy to
overcome the interactions between one another. Generally, the ideal gas
EOS works well at pressures of 1 atm or less and temperatures greater than 0
o
C (both conditions should be satisfied). The text describes further tests that
can be applied to validate the applicability of ideal gas behavior.

Standard Temperature and Pressure (STP). Most often (always for this
course), STP conditions are defined as 0oC and 1 atm. Standard cubic meters
(SCM) and standard cubic feet (SCF) refer to volumes of gas evaluated at
STP conditions.

The volume of one mole of ideal gas at STP is 22.415 L = 0.022415 m3. The
volume of 1 lb-mole of ideal gas at STP is 359.05 ft3.

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 Ideal Gas Mixtures

Imagine we have a gas mixture inside a container. We can then define:

Partial Pressure: This is the pressure, Pi, that the moles of gas i in the gas
mixture would exert if the moles of gas i was all that was present in the
container (at the same temperature T).

Pure Component Volume: This is the volume, vi, that the moles of pure
gas i would occupy at the total pressure P and temperature T of the mixture.

In an ideal gas mixture, the various gas molecules do not interact. This
means that the pressure exerted by each component i is independent of the
others; thus its partial pressure is given by

PiV = ni RT

Dividing the above by the ideal gas EOS as applied to the total mixture
(which is assumed to behave ideally), we get

PiV / (PV)= ni RT / (nRT) or Pi = yiP (4)

Therefore, the partial pressure of gas i in an ideal gas mixture can be

calculated from the total pressure P and its mole fraction yi.

Dalton’s Law states that the sum of the partial pressures over all the gases
present in a mixture equals the total pressure (this follows from equation (4)
and the fact that ∑ yi  1). For example, for a mixture of three gases A, B
i

and C:

p A  p B  pC   y A P  y B P  y C P   P (5)

There is an analogous law - Amagat’s Law – for the pure component

volumes vi of an ideal gas mixture. Amagat’s law states that the sum of the
pure component volumes is equal to the total volume:

vA  vB  vC  V (6)

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where vi is given by

vi = yi V (7)

Note that the volume fraction of i, that is the ratio between the pure
component volume of i and the total volume, is also equal to the mole
fraction, vi/V= yi. Thus, in an ideal gas mixture, the mole fraction and
volume fraction of i are numerically equivalent.

Non-ideal Gases

Definitions

Critical Temperature: This is the temperature,Tc , above which a pure

component can no longer coexist as a mixture of liquid and vapor phases.

Critical Point (Critical State) of a Fluid: The critical point for a fluid
refers to the state when the fluid is at Tc and the corresponding critical
pressure, Pc. Such a fluid can still coexist, at Tc and Pc, as a liquid and a
vapor mixture. However, if the temperature increases past Tc then co-
existence is not possible and the fluid is referred to as a supercritical fluid
(for P > Pc) or as a gas (for P < Pc).

Critical Pressure: This is the pressure, Pc , at the critical point.

Reduced Pressure (Pr): This is the actual pressure of a fluid divided by its
critical pressure, Pr  P Pc .

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Reduced Temperature (Tr): This is the actual temperature of a fluid
divided by its critical temperature, Tr  T Tc .

Law of Corresponding States: This is an empirically based principle that

states that all fluids deviate from ideality in a similar fashion, when
compared at the same reduced temperature T/Tc and reduced pressure P/Pc.

Pitzer Accentric Factor: This factor (symbol ), is a parameter used in

non-ideal equations of state that takes into account the geometry and polarity
of a molecule.

Nonideal gases: Because in reality molecules of a gas do interact, all real

gases are nonideal. Even though the ideal gas EOS may be a very good
approximation at low pressures and high temperatures, at higher pressures
and/or lower temperatures the impact of intermolecular interactions on gas
behavior increases. Then, methods for nonideal gases must be used to
account for the effect of these interactions on the relationship between P, V,
and T (and related properties such as density) of a gas. Below, the following
five methods will be introduced:

A. Virial Equation of State

B. Van der Waals Equation of State
C. Soave-Redlich-Kwong (SRK) Equation of State
D. Compressibility Factor Equation of State
E. Kay’s Rule (for nonideal gas mixtures)

Virial Equation of State

The virial equation of state is an infinite power series in the inverse of the
specific molar volume:

PVˆ B C D
 1   .. (8)
RT Vˆ Vˆ 2 V̂ 3

Equation 8 has a rigorous theoretical basis. With B and all higher virial
coefficients set to 0, it reduces to the ideal gas EOS. Most often, the virial
EOS is truncated after the second term to simplify to:

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 PVˆ B P ˆ2 ˆ
V V  B
 1 or (9)
RT Vˆ RT

B is called the second virial coefficient. If P is the unknown, equation 8 or 9

is easily solved. If the specific molar volume is the unknown, the truncated
equation 9 can be solved using the quadratic formula. Note, however, that
equation 9 loses accuracy for polar molecules.

B can be estimated from the following corresponding states correlations:

Our text lists values for the Pitzer accentric factor in table 5.3-1 and for the
critical pressure and temperature in Appendix B (table B.1).

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Van der Waals Equation of State

Starting with the ideal EOS,

RT
P
Vˆ

two modifications can be made to account for non-ideal behavior:

RT a
P  (13)
Vˆ  b Vˆ2

The “  b ” in the denominator accounts for the fact that real gas molecules do
possess a volume; thus reducing the total volume available to the gas (what
would happen if a Van der Waals gas is progressively compressed?). The
second term on the right, involving a, accounts for molecular interactions. A
positive a implies that the gas molecules attract one another. The effect of
this attraction is to reduce the tendency (and thus the pressure) of the gas to
expand. The parameters a and b change from one gas to another but are
independent of temperature. They can be expressed as functions of the
critical temperature and pressure:

The Van der Waals EOS allows solution for P if T and Vˆ , and the critical
state, are known. If the equation were instead to be solved for Vˆ , a cubic
equation would result which can be solved by trial and error. Alternately, a
rather lengthy analytical formula exists for the roots of a cubic equation that
could also be used. Thus, the Van der Waals EOS is an example of a cubic
equation of state.

Soave-Redlich-Kwong (SRK) Equation of State

A more accurate cubic EOS is the empirical SRK equation:

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 Compressibility Factor Equation of State

The compressibility factor Z for a gas is defined as Z  PVˆ RT . Z serves as a

measure of deviation from ideal behavior. If the gas is ideal, then Z1;
otherwise, it has a value other than unity.

If Z is known, it can be used to calculate P from T and Vˆ , or Vˆ from P and

T, etc., just as we did for an ideal gas using:

PVˆ  ZRT or P V& =Z n& RT (20)

Where can Z values be found? One can appeal to the law of corresponding
states. In particular, we will assume that the compressibility factor Z, for an
arbitrary gas, depends predominantly on the proximity to its critical state as
captured in the reduced temperature Tr and reduced pressure Pr. Then, a
generalized compressibility chart can be constructed which gives values of
Z as a function of Tr and Pr (e.g. see Fig. 5.4-1 in the text). If we take a look
at such a chart, we’ll notice that as a fluid approaches its critical state it
markedly deviates from ideal gas behavior. Strong deviations are also
observed at low temperatures and high pressures.

The procedure for using the generalized compressibility chart is as follows:

1. Find the critical pressure and the critical temperature for the fluid of
interest (note: if the fluid is hydrogen or helium these critical values
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 must be corrected – see text).
2. Calculate the reduced pressure and temperature (note: all temperatures
used must be absolute!).
3. Use the compressibility chart to determine Z.

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