A generalized equation of state approach to the thermodynamic properties of ammonia-water mixtures with applications

This dissertation consists of three different but strongly related topics: a generalized equation of state based on a four parameter corresponding state principle and perturbation; thermodynamic properties of ammonia-water mixtures; and a preliminary study of the Kalina power cycle.;The third of these topics is to conduct a preliminary analysis of the Kalina power cycle in connection with a combined cycle, and compare it with the Rankine cycle in terms of available energy(exergy). This study reveals the superiority of the Kalina cycle to the Rankine cycle in terms of second law efficiency.;This thermodynamic analysis requires a consistent set of thermodynamic properties of the working fluid of the systems as well as the appropriate methodology. In the second of the three topics, a new set of thermodynamic properties is developed using a generalized equation of state. The methodology of this study relaxes some suspect assumptions of previous models and is based on a generalized equation of state and rigorous thermodynamic definitions of the mixture properties. As the properties are calculated in a consistent way without combining or mosaicking equilibrium data, there are no discontinuities or gaps.;The components of the ammonia-water mixture are typical polar fluids. There has been a need to develop an accurate equation of state that is valid for polar fluids and mixtures. To satisfy this need, a generalized equation of state is developed in the first topic, combining the Lee-Kesler equation of state for non-polar fluids and Keenan's steam tables for polar fluids. The resulting correlation is based on a four parameter corresponding state principle and perturbations. This correlation has shown significant improvement over a three parameter generalized equation of state in predicting volumetric and thermodynamic properties of polar fluids such as ammonia, water, etc. The fourth parameter is calculated from simple relations and critical constants, which have been measured for many substances, without having resort to additional experiments to calculate the fourth parameter. This definition of the fourth parameter yields accurate critical constants for pure substances so that the equation of state is easily extended to mixtures. (Abstract shortened with permission of author.)...