Thermophysical Properties of Liquids with Dissolved Gases as Working Fluids in Chemical and Energy Engineering

Abstract

The present thesis aims to get a fundamental understanding of how the molecular characteristics of a solute and solvent influence the thermo-physical properties of mixtures consisting of a liquid and a dissolved gas. Due to their relevance as working fluids in chemical and energy engineering, accurate data for the viscosity, interfacial tension, and mutual diffusion coefficient are required for the efficient design and optimization of related processes. In this work, light scattering experiments, which can determine the thermophysical properties in macroscopic thermodynamic equilibrium, are combined with equilibrium molecular dynamics (EMD) simulations at temperatures up to 573 K. EMD simulations are able to predict multiple thermophysical properties by the analysis of the molecular motion in macroscopic thermodynamic equilibrium. The combination of EMD simulations with light scattering experiments allows for the validation of simulations as well as an interpretation of the results by studying the influence of molecular characteristics and the fluid structure on the thermophysical properties.