Measurement of thermodiffusion coefficient of hydrocarbon binary mixtures under pressure with the thermogravitational technique.

It was designed and constructed a new thermogravitational column able to operate at high pressures (up to 50 MPa). This new thermogravitational column is of the cylindrical type with closed ends. It is made of stainless steel. The length of the column is 0.5 m and the gap between its two walls is variable. First, the column was validated at atmospheric pressure by means of measurements of the thermodiffusion coefficient of well-known binary mixtures. Then, this new thermogravitational column was used to measure the thermodiffusion coefficient of the binary mixtures 1,2,3,4-tetrahydronaphtalene/isobutylbenzene, 1,2,3,4-tetrahydronaphtalene/n-dodecane, and isobutylbenzene/n-dodecane at high pressures and within the pressure range between 0.1 and 20 MPa at a mean temperature of 25 °C. We have found a linear dependence between the thermodiffusion coefficient and the pressure.

Measurement of thermodiffusion coefficient in n-alkane binary mixtures: composition dependence.

In this work, we have measured the thermodiffusion coefficient of different n-alkane binary mixtures at several concentrations using the thermogravitational technique. In particular, we have studied the n-dodecane/n-heptane system as a function of composition and other systems covering a large range of mass differences and concentration at 25 degrees C and 1 atm. The results show that for any concentration the thermodiffusion coefficient of n-alkane mixtures is proportional to the mass difference between the components and to the ratio of the thermal expansion coefficient and viscosity of the mixture. The obtained equation allows us to determine the infinite dilution values of the thermodiffusion coefficient. We compare these values with recent experimental results in dilute polymer solutions and analyze the Brenner theory of thermodiffusion. Finally, it is shown that the thermodiffusion coefficient depends linearly with the mass fraction, and it can be calculated from the viscosity and thermal expansion of the pure components.