Abstract
The activity coefficients of alkane structures in
various types of fatty acid ester solvents was measured in order to
determine the effect of bond interactions between these two chemical
species. It is important to understand the mechanics of these
interactions for absorber system design. Activity coefficients were
determined by use of a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet designed for this
purpose. It was determined that the length of the ester chain, as well
as ester chain saturation had an impact on activity coefficients, in
that saturated ester chains and longer ester chains yielded lower
activity coefficients. Multiple branched cycloalkanes yielded lower
activity coefficients than straight chain hydrocarbons and unbranched
cycloalkanes. It was also noted that the location of the
carboxyl group in the ester chain had no influence on activity
coefficients.