Teaching advanced equations of state in applied thermodynamics courses using open source programs

Many advanced equations of state have been developed in the last decades which fulfill important needs of the industry. However, these equations frequently are not taught in applied thermodynamic courses, in part due to the lack of educational resources for including application exercises. This article presents a set of computer programs for the calculation of phase equilibrium and other thermodynamic properties using different equations of state (classical cubic equations, cubic equations with excess Gibbs energy mixing rules, group contribution equations and SAFT equations). All the programs are open-source and allow for different learning approaches, from application exercises with these equations, to correlation of equation parameters or implementation of modified equations and calculation algorithms for more advanced courses. The programs run in the commercial computing software MATLAB as well as in the free, open-source program Octave. The programs have been designed to be easily reusable using an object-oriented programming methodology, and they may have some applications in research. Authors also present their experiences in the application of the programs in applied thermodynamic courses at a Master's level. (C) 2011 The Institution of Chemical Engineers. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.