Modeling of gaseous hydrocarbons solubility in aqueous-amine systems by VTPR model

Abstract It is crucial to know the solubility of gaseous and liquid hydrocarbons in aqueous alkanolamine solutions in order to quantify accurately the hydrocarbon losses in treating processes. Hence, consistent experimental data and accurate models are essential for the efficient design and optimization of these processes. In this work, a homogeneous approach based on the modified Volume Translation Peng-Robinson (VTPR) cubic equation of state was adopted to represent the solubility of methane, ethane and propane in aqueous mono-ethanol-amine, di-ethanol-amine and methyl-di-ethanol-amine which are the most common solvents used in the effluent treatment processes. The model parameters were estimated on the basis of binary and ternary vapor-liquid and liquid-liquid equilibrium data. The model developed shows a satisfactory representation of the experimental data with average deviations ranging from 1 to 28% for all systems, and gives a solid foundation for predicting hydrocarbon solubility in aqueous alkanolamine solutions.