The equation of state of supercritical HF, HCl, and reactive supercritical mixtures containing the elements H, C, F, and Cl

Exp6-polar thermodynamics of dense supercritical water

We introduce a simple polar fluid model for the thermodynamics of dense supercritical water based on a Buckingham (exp-6) core and point dipole representation of the water molecule. The proposed exp6-polar thermodynamics, which is based on ideas originally applied to dipolar hard spheres, performs very well when tested against molecular dynamics simulations. Comparisons of the model predictions with experimental data available for supercritical water yield excellent agreement for the shock Hugoniot, isotherms, and sound speeds, and are also quite good for the self-diffusion constant and relative dielectric constant.

Phase separation in H2O:N2 mixture: Molecular dynamics simulations using atomistic force fields

A class II atomistic force field with Lennard-Jones 6-9 nonbond interactions is used to investigate equations of state (EOS) for important high explosive detonation products N(2) and H(2)O in the temperature range of 700-2500 K and pressure range of 0.1-10 GPa. A standard sixth order parameter-mixing scheme is then employed to study a 2:1 (molar) H(2)O:N(2) mixture, to investigate, in particular, the possibility of phase separation under detonation conditions. The simulations demonstrate several important results, including (i) the accuracy of computed EOS for both N(2) and H(2)O over the entire range of temperature and pressure considered, (ii) accurate mixing-demixing phase boundary as compared to experimental data, and (iii) the departure of mixing free energy from that predicted by ideal mixing law. The results provide comparison and guidance to state-of-the-art chemical kinetic models.

Generation of methane in the Earth's mantle: in situ high pressure-temperature measurements of carbonate reduction

We present in situ observations of hydrocarbon formation via carbonate reduction at upper mantle pressures and temperatures. Methane was formed from FeO, CaCO(3)-calcite, and water at pressures between 5 and 11 GPa and temperatures ranging from 500 degrees C to 1,500 degrees C. The results are shown to be consistent with multiphase thermodynamic calculations based on the statistical mechanics of soft particle mixtures. The study demonstrates the existence of abiogenic pathways for the formation of hydrocarbons in the Earth's interior and suggests that the hydrocarbon budget of the bulk Earth may be larger than conventionally assumed.

Molecular simulation of shocked materials using the reactive Monte Carlo method

We demonstrate the applicability of the reactive Monte Carlo (RxMC) simulation method [J. K. Johnson, A. Z. Panagiotopoulos, and K. E. Gubbins, Mol. Phys. 81, 717 (1994); W. R. Smith and B. Tríska, J. Chem. Phys. 100, 3019 (1994)] for calculating the shock Hugoniot properties of a material. The method does not require interaction potentials that simulate bond breaking or bond formation; it requires only the intermolecular potentials and the ideal-gas partition functions for the reactive species that are present. By performing Monte Carlo sampling of forward and reverse reaction steps, the RxMC method provides information on the chemical equilibria states of the shocked material, including the density of the reactive mixture and the mole fractions of the reactive species. We illustrate the methodology for two simple systems (shocked liquid NO and shocked liquid N2), where we find excellent agreement with experimental measurements. The results show that the RxMC methodology provides an important simulation tool capable of testing models used in current detonation theory predictions. Further applications and extensions of the reactive Monte Carlo method are discussed.