Approximate Formulas for the Viscosity and Thermal Conductivity of Gas Mixtures

Abstract

Approximate expressions for the viscosity and thermal conductivity of gas mixtures have been derived from the rigorous kinetic theory formulas. Three levels of approximation are distinguished, with the third approximation rigorous for binary mixtures. The first approximation for mixture viscosity is found to be very nearly equivalent to empirical expressions known heretofore. The first and second approximations for mixture conductivity have been compared with rigorous calculations for binary mixtures of nonpolar gas pairs; the first approximation has an average error of 2.6% while the second approximation reduces this error to 0.5%. The second approximation accounts for the thermal conductivity of binary mixtures of polar and nonpolar gases. (It is assumed that the interchange of translational energy is abnormal for the polar-polar interaction.)