In
this study, we show that equilibrium pH can be obtained for
any specified fluid with any number of buffers and dissociations.
This is done by root finding in the equation for charge balance. We
demonstrate that this equation is monotonic in proton concentration
for conceivable buffers. We show that the total charge on any buffer
is a function of only the total buffer concentration and pH, given
the thermodynamic dissociation constants. Using the Davies’
equation as a placeholder for single-ion activity coefficients as
a function of charge and ionic strength, we develop an iterative algorithm,
whereby the apparent dissociation constants are updated from the thermodynamic
dissociation constants, and from this, the equilibrium is also identified
in the nonideal state. We show how this algebra leads to guaranteed
conservation of both thermodynamic dissociation constants and total
buffer concentrations because the distribution of buffer species is
fixed by the updated dissociation constants, actual pH, and total
buffer concentration. Strong ions are assumed to contribute fixed
charges. In order to concentrate on the process of modeling the equilibrium
pH alone, this algorithm is examined against a series of theoretical
results in which the Davies’ equation was given the same status.
However, a large sample of clinical pH measurements is also examined.
To enhance the practical utility, CO
2
and albumin are present
as the default condition. We developed “ABCharge”, a
package in R, an open source language. The main function returns pH,
activity coefficients, buffer species distribution, ionic strength,
and charge balance for both the ideal and nonideal cases, for any
mixture of any buffers with any number of known thermodynamic dissociation
constants. Our algorithm can be updated if a more reliable and practical
assessment of single-ion activities becomes available. Can Stock Photo/miceking