Problem 2.1.4

 

Estimate density of liquid benzene at 290 Kelvin and 100 atmospheres.  The following data are given:

Critical temperature 561.65 Kelvin, Critical pressure 47.7 atmospheres, critical density 304 kilogram per cubic meter, liquid density at saturated conditions 888.2 kilogram per cubic meter, saturation vapor pressure 0.0849 atmospheres.

 

Molecular weight of nitrogen is 0.078 kilogram per mole, Gas constant, R, has a value of 8.32 Pascal cubic meters per mole per Kelvin.

 

Solution: 

 

Liquid density at elevated pressure and temperature is given by a correlation provided as Equation 3.62 from Perry’s Chemical Engineers’ Handbook.  This complicated function of temperature is calculated for different values of reduced temperature and is tabulated.  One of the parameter used in this equation is given by Cheuh as N, that is a function of reduced temperature and acentric factor and is given as Equation 3-63 in the Perry’s Handbook. 

 

It uses acentric factor, which is defined as minus log of reduced vapor pressure (at reduced temperature of 0.7) minus 1.00.  To obtain values of omega, the reduced vapor pressure (Pr equal to pressure over critical pressure) at Tr (equal to T over critical temperature) equal to 0.7 is required.  Omega represents the acentricity or nonsphericity of a molecule.  For monoatomic gases, omega is, therefore, essentially zero.  For higher-molecular weight hydrocarbons, omega increases.  It also rises with polarity.  These acentric factors are given in the literature.  If acentric factors are needed, the usual technique is to locate (estimate) the critical constants Tc and Pc and then determine the vapor pressure at Tr equal to 0.7.  This estimation is normally made by using one of the reduced vapor pressure correlations.

If the vapor pressure correlation chosen were log P is equal to A plus B over T, with A and B found, say, from the sets (Tc, Pc; Tb, P equal to 1 atmosphere), then omega is given by 3 over 7 (theta over (one minus theta) time log Pc minus 1.

In many instances in the literature, one finds omega related to Zc by 0.291 minus 0.08 time omega.

 

For benzene, Pitzer’s temperature is 0.7 time 561.65 or 393.2 Kelvin.  Vapor pressure at this temperature is given as 2.974 atmospheres.

Plugging in these values, we obtain omega as 0.205. 

 

Second parameter that is used in Equation 3-62 of Perry’s Handbook, is Zc, critical compressibility factor. 

It is equal to Pc M over RTc dc.  In this equation dc is the mass density at critical conditions.  Critical compressibility factor can be found to be 0.266.

 

For situation at hand, reduced temperature is 290 over 561.65 or 0.516. For Tr equal to 0.516, Table provided value of the function Chueh as 0.0282.  Now parameter N can be found from Equation 3-63 as 0.0168. 

     

Finally, liquid density can be calculated as 890.6 kilogram per cubic meter.