ANALYSIS OF ULTRASONIC VELOCITIES IN HYDROCARBON MIXTURES

Ultrasonic velocity data on hydrocarbon mixtures were shown by Wang and Nur [J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 89, 2725 (1991)] to agree quite well with the predictions of a simple mixing rule (volume average of velocity). The same data are reanalyzed using Wood's formula and the time-average approximation. Wood's formula for acoustic velocity is shown to be always less than the time-average formula, which is itself always less than the simple mixing rule result. Although the volume average rule agrees best with the data on binary mixtures of 1-decene and I-octadecene, all these formulas agree with the data to within 1% and, therefore, it is not possible to distinguish among the formulas using this data set. Similar results are also found for six multicomponent hydrocarbon mixtures.