Planning of Measurement Series for Thermodynamic Properties based on Optimal Experimental Design

TL;DR

This paper applies optimal experimental design to thermodynamic property measurements, demonstrating that fewer measurements along selected isotherms can achieve accuracy comparable to extensive data collection, thus saving time.

Contribution

It introduces a method for selecting optimal measurement points in thermodynamic experiments, improving efficiency without sacrificing accuracy.

Findings

Optimal isotherm selection enhances measurement precision.

Fewer measurements can match the accuracy of full data sets.

Pre-measurement planning increases efficiency at no extra cost.

Abstract

Decreasing the time required for accurate thermodynamic property measurements is extremely desirable for model development that can respond to the needs of science and industry within a short time frame. Here, we demonstrate the application of optimal experimental design to measurements of thermodynamic properties. The technique is exemplified using the fitting of a Schilling-type equation from published $(p, \rho, T)$-measurements of ethylene gylcol and propylene gylcol. The analysis shows that a fixed-exponent fit using $(p,T)$-measurements along the five most informative isotherms produces models of relative density errors comparable to those obtained using the data along all investigated isotherms, \ie, eight or nine. It is also argued that a calculation of optimal isotherms prior to the measurement series can further increase the precision at no additional experimental effort.