Viscosity Models Based on the Free Volume and Entropy Scaling Theories for Pure Hydrocarbons over a Wide Range of Temperatures and Pressures

Abstract

Viscosity is a critical fundamental property required in many applications in the chemical and oil industry. Direct measurements of this property are usually expensive and time-consuming. Therefore, reliable predictive methods are often employed to obtain the viscosity. In this work, two viscosity models based on the free-volume and entropy scaling theories are assessed and compared for pure hydrocarbons. The modeling results are compared to experimental data of 52 pure hydrocarbons including straight-chain alkanes, branched alkanes, cycloalkanes, and aromatics. This study considers viscosity data to extremely high-temperature and high-pressure (HTHP) conditions up to 573 K and 300 MPa. The results obtained with the free-volume theory viscosity in conjunction with the perturbed-chain statistical associating fluid theory (PC-SAFT) equation of state are characterized by an overall average absolute deviation (AAD%) of 3% from the experimental data. The overall AAD% obtained with the predictive entropy scaling method by Lö-tgering-Lin and Gross is 8%.