A Review of Experimental Solubilities and a General Correlation between the Temperature-Dependent Solubility and Solute and Solvent Molar Masses for Binary n-Alkane Mixtures

TL;DR

This paper reviews experimental solubility data for binary n-alkane mixtures, demonstrating a log-linear relationship with temperature and proposing a general correlation based on molar masses that can predict solubility in multi-component systems.

Contribution

It introduces a new general correlation between solubility, temperature, and molar masses for binary n-alkane mixtures, supported by extensive data analysis.

Findings

Log-linear relationship between solubility and temperature in dilute range

Correlation based on molar masses predicts solubility in multi-component mixtures

Systematic review of 43 data-sets from 24 studies

Abstract

The solubility of a "heavy" alkane (solute) in a "light" alkane (solvent) is generally temperature dependent. Moreover, it is determined by the molar masses of the solute and solvent. In the current paper, published solubility data for binary normal-alkane mixtures is reviewed (solid-liquid equilibrium). A total of 43 unique solute-solvent data-sets, obtained from a total of 24 published experimental studies, are collected and presented in a systematic manner. Based on thermodynamic considerations and the experimental data, it is demonstrated that there is a log-linear relationship between the solubility and the temperature in the dilute range. Linear regression is employed to 1) obtain data-set-specific solubility-temperature best-fit parameters and 2) obtain a general correlation between the solubility and the solvent and solute molar masses and the temperature. Finally, it is demonstrated that the developed correlation carries predictive power even for multi-component mixtures by utilizing solvent and solute average molar masses.