Measurements and modeling of interfacial tension for (CO2 + n-alkyl benzene) binary mixtures

Abstract

The interfacial tension of CO2 with hydrocarbons is an important thermophysical property involved in the process of enhancing the oil recovery. However, the systematical measurements of equilibrium interfacial tensions for systems of (CO2 + n-alkyl benzene) are still quite rare. In this work, the interfacial tensions of ten (CO2 + n-alkyl benzene) binary systems were measured at different temperatures including 323.15 K, 343.15 K (only for CO2/benzene system), and 353.15 K. The carbon number of n-alkyl benzene ranges from 6 to 20. The influences of temperature, pressure on the interfacial tension were taken into consideration. The measured IFT data range from 2.69 to 22.68 mN m−1. In addition, the density gradient theory was applied to simulate the interfacial tensions of these binary mixtures combined with the Patel-Teja equation of state plus volume translation approach. The average absolute deviation of interfacial tension between the predicted and experimental values is 7.06%.