Geometrical Tools for Teaching Azeotropy Using Simplified Thermodynamic Models

TL;DR

This paper introduces a geometric approach using simplified models to understand azeotropy in binary mixtures, making the concept accessible for undergraduate students through visual and mathematical tools.

Contribution

It presents a novel geometric framework for analyzing azeotropes with simple models, facilitating understanding of complex thermodynamic behaviors.

Findings

Azeotropes correspond to intersections of curves in the plane.

The geometric approach helps visualize double azeotropy.

Simplified models enable undergraduate-level analysis of azeotropic phenomena.

Abstract

In this work we propose a geometric view of the azeotropy problem, using some simplified models. We demonstrate that the occurrence of azeotropes in binary mixtures can be viewed-geometrically-as the intersection of curves in the plane (for some models, these curves are parabolas). Furthermore, the idea of functions from the plane to the plane is used to help understand the azeotropic phenomenon. These ideas are illustrated with two simple cases, with one and two azeotropes, allowing the analysis of a unusual thermodynamic behavior-such as double azeotropy-with simple mathematical tools, by undergraduate students in Chemical Engineering courses.