This work compares eight classical
H2 molecular models
in the gas phase taken from the existing literature. All models are
based on Lennard-Jones (LJ) 12-6 terms for the van der Waals interactions
and hence easier to transfer to multiphase molecular simulations than
more sophisticated potentials. The H2 potentials tested
include one-site, two-site, three-site, and five-site models, with
the sites being either the H atoms, the center-of-mass of the H2 molecule, or massless sites. For the multisite models, high-frequency
H–H stretching modes can lead to poor equipartition of the
kinetic energy, and the timestep for molecular dynamics (MD) simulations
should be reduced to maintain a stable numerical integration of the
equations of motion. As such, only those models with rigid bonds are
considered. In the present case, 600 MD simulations of H2 gas were carried out over a large range of temperatures (−50
to +90 °C) and at densities corresponding to a pressure range
of 50 to 2000 bar, which include the operating conditions of on-board
storage tanks in hydrogen-fueled vehicles. Most of the models under
study were found to reproduce reasonably well the experimental pVT phase diagram as well as the solubility. Discrepancies
only became significant at the highest densities tested, and these
could be used to rank the different models. All model diffusion coefficients
were essentially indistinguishable from experimental results, and
as such, kinetically dominated dynamic properties could not be used
as a criterion for the choice of model. Among the eight models tested,
two of them, i.e., the two-site model of Yang and
Zhong and the one-site model derived from Buch performed very well
over the range of conditions tested. They represent a good compromise
between realism, simplicity, and computational efficiency.