Thermodynamic modeling for numerical simulations based on the generalized cubic equation of state

Abstract

We further elaborate on the generalized formulation for cubic equation of state proposed by Cismondi and Mollerup [Fluid Phase Equilib. 232, 74–89 (2005)]. With this formulation, all well-known cubic equations of state can be described with a certain pair of values, which allow for a generic implementation of different equations of state. Based on this generalized formulation, we derive a complete thermodynamic model for computational fluid dynamics simulations by providing the resulting correlations for all required thermodynamic properties. For the transport properties, we employ the Chung correlations. Our generic implementation includes the often used equations of state Soave–Redlich–Kwong and Peng–Robinson and the Redlich–Kwong–Peng–Robinson equation of state. The first two assume a universal critical compressibility factor and are, therefore, only suitable for fluids with a matching critical compressibility. The Redlich–Kwong–Peng–Robinson overcomes this limitation by considering the equation of state parameter as a function of the critical compressibility. We compare the resulting thermodynamic modeling for the three equations of state for selected fluids with each other and CoolProp reference data. Additionally, we provide a Python tool called real gas thermodynamic python library (realtpl). This tool can be used to evaluate and compare the results for a wide range of different fluids. We also provide an implementation of the generalized form in OpenFOAM.