The solubilities of nitrous oxide, carbon dioxide, Aliphatic ethers and alcohols, and water in cryogenic liquids

Abstract

Experimental investigations using IR spectroscopy and a variable pressure cell (up to 30 bar) have shown that nitrous oxide, carbon dioxide and some aliphatic ethers are considerably soluble in liquid nitrogen, liquid oxygen and liquid argon between 77 K and 135 K, with solubilities ranging from 10 −4 mole fraction for nitrous oxide to 10 −8 mole fraction for di-isopropyl ether. The solubility data have been found to be dependent on the temperature of the cryogenic liquid and the molecular structures and properties of the solute and solvent molecules. The solubilities of water, hydrogen sulphide, methanol and ethanol have been found experimentally to be very low, i.e. less than 10 −8 mole fraction in liquid nitrogen, liquid oxygen and liquid argon. These values are considerably lower than those measured previously using gravimetric methods (10 −7 - 10 −5). The experimental solubilities are compared with the predicted values based on the “ideal” and “regular solution” theories. Both theories failed to predict solubilities comparable with the experimental values.