Theoretical and experimental comparison of the Soret coefficient for water-methanol and water-ethanol binary mixtures

Dynamic thermodiffusion model for binary liquid mixtures

Following the nonequilibrium thermodynamics approach, we develop a dynamic model to emulate thermo-diffusion process and propose expressions for estimating the thermal diffusion factor in binary nonassociating liquid mixtures. Here, we correlate the net heat of transport in thermodiffusion with parameters, such as the mixture temperature and pressure, the size and shape of the molecules, and mobility of the components, because the molecules have to become activated before they can move. Based on this interpretation, the net heat of transport of each component can be somehow related to the viscosity and the activation energy of viscous flow of the same component defined in Eyring's reaction-rate theory [S. Glasstone, K. J. Laidler, and H. Eyring, (McGraw-Hill, New York, 1941)]. This modeling approach is different from that of Haase and Kempers, in which thermodiffusion is considered as a function of the thermostatic properties of the mixture such as enthalpy. In simulating thermodiffusion, by correlating the net heat of transport with the activation energy of viscous flow, effects of the above mentioned parameters are accounted for, to some extent of course. The model developed here along with Haase-Kempers and Drickamer-Firoozabadi models linked with the Peng-Robinson equation of sate are evaluated against the experimental data for several recent nonassociating binary mixtures at various temperatures, pressures, and concentrations. Although the model prediction is still not perfect, the model is simple and easy to use, physically justified, and predicts the experimental data very good and much better than the existing models.

Theoretical approach to evaluate thermodiffusion in aqueous alkanol solutions

Flow due to thermodiffusion may change direction in fluid mixtures with the variation of composition and temperature. This occurrence remains an unraveled phenomenon in petroleum research. Using a modified theoretical approach, this paper evaluates the thermal diffusion factor in alkanol water mixtures, including methanol, ethanol, and isopropanol aqueous mixtures. By combining this approach with an equation of state perturbed chain statistical associating fluid theory and using two adjustable parameters calculated from experimental data, the present approach provides a good agreement for the prediction of thermal diffusion in alkanol water mixtures when compared with the available experimental data. This work reveals that the thermodiffusion in infinite dilutions may play an important role in understanding the thermodiffusion phenomena.

Elementary kinematical model of thermal diffusion in liquids and gases

An elementary hydrodynamic and Brownian motion model of the thermal diffusivity D(T) of a restricted class of binary liquid mixtures, previously proposed by the author, is given a more transparent derivation than originally, exposing thereby the strictly kinematic-hydrodynamic nature of an important class of thermodiffusion separation phenomena. Moreover, it is argued that the solvent's thermometric diffusivity alpha appearing in that theory as one of the two fundamental parameters governing D(T) should be replaced by the solvent's (isothermal) self-diffusivity D(S). In addition, a corrective multiplier of O(1) is inserted to reflect the general physicochemical noninertness of the solute relative to the solvent, thus enhancing the applicability of the resulting formula D(T)=lambdaD(S)beta to "nonideal" solutions. Here, beta is the solvent's thermal expansivity and lambda is a term of O(1), insensitive to the physicochemical nature of the solute (thus rendering D(T) primarily dependent upon only the properties of the solvent). This formula is, on the basis of its derivation, presumably valid only under certain idealized, albeit well-defined, circumstances. This occurs when the solute molecules are: (i) large compared with those of the solvent; and (ii) present only in small proportions relative to those of the solvent. When the solute is physicochemically inert, it is expected that lambda=1. When these conditions are met, the resulting thermal diffusivity of the mixture is, in theory, independent of any and all properties of the solute. Moreover, because beta is algebraically signed, the thermal diffusivity can either by positive or negative, according as the solvent expands or contracts upon being heated. This formula for D(T) is compared with available experimental data for selected binary liquid mixtures. Reasonable agreement is found in almost all circumstances with lambda near unity, the more so the higher the temperature, especially when the solute-solvent mixture properties closely approximate those where agreement would be expected and conversely. Finally, it is pointed out that for the restricted circumstances described, the formula D(T)=lambdaD(S)beta is equally credible for gases. Here, based on gas-kinetic theory, it is possible to furnish the theoretical value of lambda. Overall, while spanning a range of about five orders of magnitude, the D(T) values given by this elementary formula are shown to apply with reasonable accuracy to: (i) liquids (including circumstances for which D(T) is negative) as well as gases; (ii) all combinations of solvents and solutes tested (the latter including, for example, polymer molecules and metallic colloidal particles); and (iii) all sizes of solute molecules, from angstroms to submicron.