Hseen O. Baled

Effect of isomeric structures of branched cyclic hydrocarbons on densities and equation of state predictions at elevated temperatures and pressures.

The cis and trans conformation of a branched cyclic hydrocarbon affects the packing and, hence, the density, exhibited by that compound. Reported here are density data for branched cyclohexane (C6) compounds including methylcyclohexane, ethylcyclohexane (ethylcC6), cis-1,2-dimethylcyclohexane (cis-1,2), cis-1,4-dimethylcyclohexane (cis-1,4), and trans-1,4-dimethylcyclohexane (trans-1,4) determined at temperatures up to 525 K and pressures up to 275 MPa. Of the four branched C6 isomers, cis-1,2 exhibits the largest densities and the smallest densities are exhibited by trans-1,4. The densities are modeled with the Peng-Robinson (PR) equation of state (EoS), the high-temperature, high-pressure, volume-translated (HTHP VT) PREoS, and the perturbed chain, statistical associating fluid theory (PC-SAFT) EoS. Model calculations highlight the capability of these equations to account for the different densities observed for the four isomers investigated in this study. The HTHP VT-PREoS provides modest improvements over the PREoS, but neither cubic EoS is capable of accounting for the effect of isomer structural differences on the observed densities. The PC-SAFT EoS, with pure component parameters from the literature or from a group contribution method, provides improved density predictions relative to those obtained with the PREoS or HTHP VT-PREoS. However, the PC-SAFT EoS, with either set of parameters, also cannot fully account for the effect of the C6 isomer structure on the resultant density.

Equation of state density models for hydrocarbons in ultradeep reservoirs at extreme temperature and pressure conditions

The necessity of exploring ultradeep reservoirs requires the accurate prediction of hydrocarbon density data at extreme temperatures and pressures. In this study, three equations of state (EoS) models, Peng-Robinson (PR), high-temperature high-pressure volume-translated PR (HTHP VT-PR), and perturbed-chain statistical associating fluid theory (PC-SAFT) EoS are used to predict the density data for hydrocarbons in ultradeep reservoirs at temperatures to 523 K and pressures to 275 MPa. The calculated values are compared with experimental data. The results show that the HTHP VT-PR EoS and PC-SAFT EoS always perform better than the regular PR EoS for all the investigated hydrocarbons.