Phase equilibria of polymer solutions using the chain-of-rotators equation of state

Equations of state (eos) have become the prevalent means for thermodynamic and phase equilibrium calculations as both vapor and liquid phases are described over wide ranges of conditions by the same equation. Whereas most eos theories are developed to represent the behavior of volatile fluids, extension of these theories to systems containing large chain molecules is necessary in a variety of industrial applications. In this thesis, the Chain-of-Rotators (COR) eos derived from the rotational partition function for polyatomic molecular fluids is used to describe phase equilibria of polymer + solvent systems. New parameterization is proposed for COR to extend the equation to a wide variety of solvents encountered in practice, from nonpolar to highly polar and associating. A group contribution approach is adopted to obtain the segmental parameters that are applicable to polymers of varying molecular weights. Parameters a and b for a polymer are obtained from the small molecule of the same chemical structure as the polymer segment. Parameter c is then fitted from pure polymer pressure-volume-temperature data.; Generally excellent correlation of vapor-liquid equilibrium (vle) data is obtained for all mixtures investigated by using only one constant interaction coefficient in the van der Waals mixing rule for the attractive parameter independent of temperature or polymer molecular weight. For the majority of systems studied, vle predictions from COR by setting the van der Waals binary interaction parameter to zero and by using UNIFAC free energy matched mixing rules are better than or comparable to those of the recommended UNIFAC-FV model for polymer solutions.; The van der Waals mixing rules, however, are inadequate for description of the experimentally observed liquid-liquid phase equilibrium behavior of polymer solutions. Good correlation of polymer + solvent liquid-liquid equilibrium data is obtained upon incorporation of a modified Flory-Huggins solution model into the COR eos. The model is matched with the eos at a reference pressure equal to the saturated vapor pressure of pure solvent at the temperature of interest. Three parameters are required to describe upper or lower critical solution temperature (UCST or LCST) behavior exhibited by polymer solutions.