A reference equation of state for the thermodynamic properties of ethane for temperatures from the melting line to 675 K and pressures up to 900 MPa

A new formulation for the thermodynamic properties of the fluid phase of ethane in the form of a fundamental equation explicit in the Helmholtz energy is presented. The functional form of the residual part was developed using state-of-the-art linear and nonlinear optimization algorithms. It contains 44 coefficients which were fitted to selected data for the thermal and caloric properties of ethane both in the single-phase region and on the liquid-vapor phase boundary. This work provides information on the available experimental data for the thermodynamic properties of ethane and presents all details of the new formulation. The new equation of state describes the p rho T surface of ethane with an uncertainty in density of less than 0.02%-0.03% (coverage factor k=2 corresponding to a level of confidence of about 95%) from the melting line up to temperatures of 520 K and pressures of 30 MPa. In the gaseous and supercritical region, high precision speed of sound data are represented generally within less than 0.015%. Other reliable data sets are represented within their experimental uncertainties. The primary data, to which the equation was fitted, cover the fluid region from the melting line to temperatures of 675 K and pressures of 900 MPa. Beyond this range the equation shows reasonable extrapolation behavior up to very high temperatures and pressures. In addition to the equation of state, independent equations for the vapor pressure, the saturated-liquid and saturated-vapor densities, and the melting pressure are given. Tables of thermodynamic properties calculated from the new formulation are listed in the Appendix. (c) 2006 American Institute of Physics.