Thermodynamic and Transport Properties of Fluids and Fluid Mixtures

The behavior of thermodynamic properties of fluids and fluid mixtures is strongly affected by the presence of critical points, such as the vapor-liquid critical point in one-component fluids, plait points and consolute points in liquid mixtures, etc. The presence of long-range fluctuations is associated with critical phase-transition phenomena. Based on modern theoretical analysis, we are trying to obtain an accurate representation of the thermodynamic behavior of fluids and fluid mixtures close to and not so close to these critical points. The aim is to obtain fundamental equations for chemical engineering applications over large ranges of temperatures and densities that incorporate the crossover from singular critical thermodynamic behavior to regular thermodynamic behavior far away from critical phase transitions. A challenging task of the research is to obtain equations for chemical engineering applications that incorporate the universal (affected by fluctuations) critical behavior of fluids and nonuniversal (affected by specific intermolecular interactions) behavior far away from the critical point. In particular, ionic fluids like aqueous solutions of sodium chloride and polymer solutions are subjects of our special interest.

The presence of long-range fluctuations in fluids and fluid mixtures near critical-point phase transitions also strongly affects the behavior of transport properties. The effects of long-range fluctuations on the transport properties can be understood quantitatively with the methods of generalized hydrodynamics. The aim is to obtain accurate representations of the transport properties of fluids and fluid mixtures over a long range of temperatures and densities consistent with the thermodynamic behavior discussed above.

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