An extended corresponding states model for the thermal conductivity of refrigerants and refrigerant mixtures

The extended corresponding states (ECS) model of Huber et al. (Huber M.L., Friend, D.G., Ely, J.F. Prediction of the thermal conductivity of refrigera nts and refrigerant mixtures, Fluid Phase Equilibria 1992;80:249-61) for ca lculating the thermal conductivity of a pure fluid or fluid mixture is modi fied by the introduction of a thermal conductivity shape factor which is de termined from experimental data. An additional empirical correction to the traditional Eucken correlation for the dilute-gas conductivity was necessar y, especially for highly polar fluids. For pure fluids, these additional fa ctors result in significantly improved agreement between the ECS prediction s and experimental data. A further modification for mixtures eliminates dis continuities at the pure component limits. The method has been applied to 1 1 halocarbon refrigerants, propane, ammonia, and carbon dioxide as well as mixtures of these fluids. The average absolute deviations between the calcu lated and experimental values ranged from 1.08 to 5.57% for the 14 pure flu ids studied. Deviations for the 12 mixtures studied ranged from 2.98 to 9.4 0%. Deviations increase near the critical point, especially for mixtures. P ublished by Elsevier Science Ltd.