Transport properties of carbon dioxide and methane from molecular dynamics simulations

Impact of adsorption on thermal conductivity dynamics of adsorbate and adsorbent: Molecular dynamics study of methane and Cu-BTC

Understanding changes in thermodynamic and transport properties during adsorption is crucial for the thermal management of metal-organic frameworks, which also imposes significant challenges for improved performance and energy density of adsorption system. Because of phase transitions in the intermolecular interactions involved in the adsorption phenomena, transport properties including the thermal conductivity exhibit interesting behaviors, yet fully understood. This study employs detailed molecular dynamics simulations to replicate the methane/Cu-BTC adsorption phenomenon for the evaluation of their thermal conductivities across different pressures and temperatures. The molecular simulations show that the thermal conductivities of both the adsorbent (Cu-BTC) and adsorbate (methane, adsorbed phase) vary notably during adsorption processes. Using the concepts of the change in the degree of free movements of the adsorbate molecules and atomic vibration of adsorbent, the reduction of the adsorbate thermal conductivity (∼70-93%) and increase thermal conductivity of the adsorbent (up to 3 times) in Cu-BTC+CH4 pair are explained.

Interfacial Tensions, Solubilities, and Transport Properties of the H2/H2O/NaCl System: A Molecular Simulation Study

Data for several key thermodynamic and transport properties needed for technologies using hydrogen (H2), such as underground H2 storage and H2O electrolysis are scarce or completely missing. Force field-based Molecular Dynamics (MD) and Continuous Fractional Component Monte Carlo (CFCMC) simulations are carried out in this work to cover this gap. Extensive new data sets are provided for (a) interfacial tensions of H2 gas in contact with aqueous NaCl solutions for temperatures of (298 to 523) K, pressures of (1 to 600) bar, and molalities of (0 to 6) mol NaCl/kg H2O, (b) self-diffusivities of infinitely diluted H2 in aqueous NaCl solutions for temperatures of (298 to 723) K, pressures of (1 to 1000) bar, and molalities of (0 to 6) mol NaCl/kg H2O, and (c) solubilities of H2 in aqueous NaCl solutions for temperatures of (298 to 363) K, pressures of (1 to 1000) bar, and molalities of (0 to 6) mol NaCl/kg H2O. The force fields used are the TIP4P/2005 for H2O, the Madrid-2019 and the Madrid-Transport for NaCl, and the Vrabec and Marx for H2. Excellent agreement between the simulation results and available experimental data is found with average deviations lower than 10%.

Using NMR diffusion data to validate MD models of disordered proteins: Test case of N-terminal tail of histone H4

MD simulations can provide uniquely detailed models of intrinsically disordered proteins (IDPs). However, these models need careful experimental validation. The coefficient of translational diffusion Dtr, measurable by pulsed field gradient NMR, offers a potentially useful piece of experimental information related to the compactness of the IDP's conformational ensemble. Here, we investigate, both experimentally and via the MD modeling, the translational diffusion of a 25-residue N-terminal fragment from histone H4 (N-H4). We found that the predicted values of Dtr, as obtained from mean-square displacement of the peptide in the MD simulations, are largely determined by the viscosity of the MD water (which has been reinvestigated as a part of our study). Beyond that, our analysis of the diffusion data indicates that MD simulations of N-H4 in the TIP4P-Ew water give rise to an overly compact conformational ensemble for this peptide. In contrast, TIP4P-D and OPC simulations produce the ensembles that are consistent with the experimental Dtr result. These observations are supported by the analyses of the 15N spin relaxation rates. We also tested a number of empirical methods to predict Dtr based on IDP's coordinates extracted from the MD snapshots. In particular, we show that the popular approach involving the program HYDROPRO can produce misleading results. This happens because HYDROPRO is not intended to predict the diffusion properties of highly flexible biopolymers such as IDPs. Likewise, recent empirical schemes that exploit the relationship between the small-angle x-ray scattering-informed conformational ensembles of IDPs and the respective experimental Dtr values also prove to be problematic. In this sense, the first-principle calculations of Dtr from the MD simulations, such as demonstrated in this work, should provide a useful benchmark for future efforts in this area.

Computation of Shear Viscosity by a Consistent Method in Equilibrium Molecular Dynamics Simulations: Applications to 1-Decene Oligomers

Accurate computation of shear viscosity is fundamental for describing fluid flow and designing and developing new processes. Poly-α-olefins (PAO's), particularly from 1-decene, have been applied to a variety of industrial processes. Recently, these molecules have been applied as carbon dioxide thickeners, enhancing carbon dioxide viscosity, which is important in carbon dioxide injection, either for enhanced oil recovery or sequestration in geological formations. For these applications, knowledge of the pure oligomer viscosity is crucial to design and operate the oligomer upstream pipelines before mixing them with carbon dioxide. Using Green-Kubo formalism with equilibrium molecular dynamics simulations, two methods are presented in the literature to generate the traceless, symmetric pressure tensor. In this work, we show that these two methods provide different values of shear viscosity, from the analysis of how the diagonal components of the traceless, symmetric pressure tensor are computed in each method. Then, we examine the consistency and correctness of each method: one is found to be consistent. The other is corrected by scaling the fluctuations of the diagonal components. Shear viscosities of supercritical carbon dioxide, vapor and liquid n-pentane, and liquid n-decane are computed to illustrate the analysis. We also apply the consistent method to compute the viscosity of 1-decene oligomers, including for the first time larger-than-dimer oligomers (trimer, tetramer, hexamer, and decamer).

All-Atom Molecular Dynamics of Pure Water-Methane Gas Hydrate Systems under Pre-Nucleation Conditions: A Direct Comparison between Experiments and Simulations of Transport Properties for the Tip4p/Ice Water Model

(1) Background: New technologies involving gas hydrates under pre-nucleation conditions such as gas separations and storage have become more prominent. This has necessitated the characterization and modeling of the transport properties of such systems. (2) Methodology: This work explored methane hydrate systems under pre-nucleation conditions. All-atom molecular dynamics simulations were used to quantify the performance of the TIP4P/2005 and TIP4P/Ice water models to predict the viscosity, diffusivity, and thermal conductivity using various formulations. (3) Results: Molecular simulation equilibrium was robustly demonstrated using various measures. The Green–Kubo estimation of viscosity outperformed other formulations when combined with TIP4P/Ice, and the same combination outperformed all TIP4P/2005 formulations. The Green–Kubo TIP4P/Ice estimation of viscosity overestimates (by 84% on average) the viscosity of methane hydrate systems under pre-nucleation conditions across all pressures considered (0–5 MPag). The presence of methane was found to increase the average number of hydrogen bonds over time (6.7–7.8%). TIP4P/Ice methane systems were also found to have 16–19% longer hydrogen bond lifetimes over pure water systems. (4) Conclusion: An inherent limitation in the current water force field for its application in the context of transport properties estimations for methane gas hydrate systems. A re-parametrization of the current force field is suggested as a starting point. Until then, this work may serve as a characterization of the deviance in viscosity prediction.

A Molecular Dynamics Investigation on Methane Flow and Water Droplets Sliding in Organic Shale Pores with Nano-structured Roughness

Roughness of surfaces significantly influences how methane and water flow in shale nanopores. We perform molecular dynamics simulations to investigate the influence of surface roughness on pore-scale transport of pure methane as well as of two-phase methane–water systems with the water sliding as droplets over the pore surface. For single-phase methane flow, surface roughness shows a limited influence on bulk methane density, while it significantly reduces the methane flow capacity. In methane–water systems, the mobility of water is a strong function of surface roughness including a clear transition between immobile and mobile water droplets. For cases with mobile water, droplet sliding speeds were correlated with pressure gradient and surface roughness. Sliding water droplets hardly deform, i.e., there is little difference between their advancing and receding contact angle with structured roughness.

Comparison of atomic force microscopy force curve and solvation structure studied by integral equation theory

Atomic force microscopy can observe structures of liquids (solvents) on solid surfaces as oscillating force curves. The oscillation originates from the solvation force, which is affected by the interaction between the probe, substrate, and solvents. To investigate the effects of the interactions on the force curve, we calculated the force curves by integral equation theory with various probe and substrate conditions. The probe solvophilicity affected the force curves more than the substrate solvophilicity in our calculation, and its reason is qualitatively explained by the amount of the desolvated solvents. We evaluated the probes and parameters in terms of the qualitative estimation of the number density distribution of the solvent on the wall. The negative of the force curve's derivative with respect to the surface separation reflected the number density distribution better than the force curve. This parameter is based on the method that is proposed previously by Amano et al. [Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys. 18, 15534 (2016)]. The normalized frequency shift can also be used for the qualitative estimation of the number density distribution if the cantilever amplitude is small. Solvophobic probes reflected the number density distribution better than the solvophilic probes. Solvophilic probes resulted in larger oscillation amplitudes than solvophobic probes and are suitable for measurements with a high S/N ratio.

Molecular Dynamics Studies on Liquid/Vapor Interface Properties and Structures of 1-Ethyl-3-methylimidazolium Dimethylphosphate-Water

1-Ethyl-3-methylimidazolium dimethylphosphate ([Emim][Dmp])-water binary solution is one of the promising new working-pairs for absorption heat pump and absorption chillers, which are widely used to recover industrial waste heat. In the absorption process, the mass and heat transfer at the interface greatly depend on interface microscopic structure. Therefore, in order to understand the absorption process, it is very important to study the interface microscopic structure. The liquid-vapor interface properties, as well as the orientation of [Emim]⁺, [Dmp]^-, water at the interface and its aqueous solution with different water mole fraction, were studied using classical all-atom force field by molecular dynamic simulations. The simulated bulk mass density fitted by hyperbolic tangent function for each system was in good agreement with the experiment data, with the relative deviation between simulated and experimental value within 2%. The simulated results indicate that anion is always distributed at the outmost layer of the interface, followed by cation and water molecule. In [Emim][Dmp], the tilt angle of imidazolium rings to the surface normal is in the range of 0° < θ < 12°; for most cation, their ethyl and methyl tilted toward gas phase and bulk, respectively, but for a few cation, their ethyl and the methyl take the opposite orientation. For anion, one methyl prefers to turn toward gas phase and another methyl (PC vector from P atom to C atom) lie nearly parallel to the surface, while one PO vector (from P atom to O atom) turns toward liquid bulk and another PO vector is nearly parallel to the surface. In aqueous solution of [Emim][Dmp], the tilt angle of the imidazolium ring to the surface normal becomes larger (0° < θ < 37°) at the interface, but almost all ethyl intend to tilt toward gas phase and the methyl tilt toward liquid bulk compared with pure [Emim][Dmp]. Two methyl in anion prefer to turn toward gas phase and its two PO vectors toward liquid bulk. This orientation indicates that pure [Emim][Dmp] absorb water in gas phase more easily than [Emim][Dmp]+H₂O system does. Water molecules are distributed in the inner layer of the interface with two OH vectors (from O atom to H atom) tilting toward external surface.

Reference Correlation for the Viscosity of Carbon Dioxide

A comprehensive database of experimental and computed data for the viscosity of carbon dioxide (CO2) was compiled and a new reference correlation was developed. Literature results based on an ab initio potential energy surface were the foundation of the correlation of the viscosity in the limit of zero density in the temperature range from 100 K to 2000 K. Guided symbolic regression was employed to obtain a new functional form that extrapolates correctly to T → 0 K and to 10 000 K. Coordinated measurements at low density made it possible to implement the temperature dependence of the Rainwater-Friend theory in the linear-in-density viscosity term. The residual viscosity could be formulated with a scaling term ργ /T the significance of which was confirmed by symbolic regression. The final viscosity correlation covers temperatures from 100 K to 2000 K for gaseous CO2, and from 220 K to 700 K with pressures along the melting line up to 8000 MPa for compressed and supercritical liquid states. The data representation is more accurate than with the previous correlations, and the covered pressure and temperature range is significantly extended. The critical enhancement of the viscosity of CO2 is included in the new correlation.

Thermodynamic Resistance to Matter Flow at The Interface of a Porous Membrane

Nanoporous materials are important in industrial separation, but their application is subject to strong interfacial barriers to the entry and transport of fluids. At certain conditions the fluid inside and outside the nanoporous material can be viewed as a two-phase system, with an interface between them, which poses an excess resistance to matter flow. We show that there exist two kinds of phenomena which influence the interfacial resistance: hydrodynamic effects and thermodynamic effects, which are independent of each other. Here, we investigate the role of the thermodynamic effects in carbon nanotubes (CNTs) and slit pores and compare the associated thermodynmic resistance with that due to hydrodynamic effects traditionally modeled by the established Sampson expression. Using CH4 and CO2 as model fluids, we show that the thermodynamic resistance is especially important for moderate to high pressures, at which the fluid within the CNT or slit pore is in the condensed state. Further, we show that at such pressures the thermodynamic resistance becomes comparable with the internal resistance to fluid transport at length scales typical of membranes used in fuel cells, and of importance in membrane-based separation, and nanofluidics in general.

Autonomous pump against concentration gradient

Using non-equilibrium molecular dynamics and Monte Carlo methods, we have studied the molecular transport in asymmetric nanochannels. The efficiency of the molecular pump depends on the angle and apertures of the asymmetric channel, the environmental temperature and average concentration of the particles. The pumping effect can be explained as the competition between the molecular force field and the thermal disturbance. Our results provide a green approach for pumping fluid particles against the concentration gradient through asymmetric nanoscale thin films without any external forces. It indicates that pumping vacuum can be a spontaneous process.