Theoretical Background for Predicting the Properties of Petroleum Fluids via Group Contribution Methods

AbstractThe major problem encountered in the petroleum industry lies in the proper thermodynamic representation of rather complex fluids. In this work, the UNIFAC group contribution method for predicting the properties of such fluids has been exploited as a basis for their description in terms of model compounds. Standard thermodynamic procedures are used to estimate the critical properties, acentric factors, and molecular weights for the model compounds. In such a way, the already available generalized methods can be used for calculations of the phase equilibrium in complex petroleum mixtures