THE CRITICAL-TEMPERATURES AND DENSITIES OF THE NORMAL-ALKANES FROM PENTANE TO OCTADECANE

The critical temperatures and densities of n-alkanes from pentane to octadecane have been measured using a rapid heating sealed ampoule technique. The measurements were compared with critical properties reported in the literature and with the results of several estimation methods. In general, our measurements of the critical temperature compared well with values reported in the literature, but those for the critical density only agreed with literature values for the lower members of the alkane series. An interesting trend observed with the critical densities was that the experimental values decreased with carbon number after attaining a maximum. This is contrary to the trend predicted by all estimation methods, and suggests a need for new methods for this property. © 1990.