24.01.2013 Views

McKay, Donald. "Front matter" Multimedia Environmental Models ...

McKay, Donald. "Front matter" Multimedia Environmental Models ...

McKay, Donald. "Front matter" Multimedia Environmental Models ...

SHOW MORE
SHOW LESS

Create successful ePaper yourself

Turn your PDF publications into a flip-book with our unique Google optimized e-Paper software.

©2001 CRC Press LLC<br />

5.3 PROPERTIES OF SOLUTES IN SOLUTION<br />

5.3.1 Solution in the Gas Phase<br />

Equations are needed to deduce the fugacity of a solute in solution from its<br />

concentration. We first treat nonionizing substances that retain their structure when<br />

in solution. It transpires that, at low concentrations, a substance’s fugacity and<br />

concentration are linearly related, i.e., fugacity is proportional to concentration. This<br />

suggests using a relationship of the following form:<br />

C = Zf<br />

where C is concentration (mol/m3),<br />

f is fugacity (Pa), and Z, the proportionality<br />

constant (termed the fugacity capacity)<br />

has units of mol/m3Pa.<br />

The aim is then to<br />

deduce Z for the substance in air, water, and other phases. Later, we examine the<br />

significance of Z in more detail, because it becomes a key quantity when assessing<br />

environmental partitioning.<br />

The easiest case is a solution in a gas phase (air) in which there are usually no<br />

interactions between molecules other than collisions.<br />

The basic fugacity equation as presented in thermodynamics texts (Prausnitz et<br />

al., 1986) is<br />

f = y f PT<br />

where y is mole fraction, f is a fugacity coefficient, PT is total (atmospheric) pressure,<br />

and P is yPT, the partial pressure. If the gas law applies,<br />

P TV = nRT or PV = ynRT<br />

Here, n is the total number of moles present, R is the gas constant, V is volume<br />

(m 3 ), and T is absolute temperature (K). Now the concentration of the solute in the<br />

gas phase C A will be yn/V or P/RT mol/m 3 .<br />

C A = yP T/RT = (1/ fRT) f = Z Af<br />

Fortunately, the fugacity coefficient f rarely deviates appreciably from unity<br />

under environmental conditions. The exceptions occur at low temperatures, high<br />

pressures, or when the solute molecules interact chemically with each other in the<br />

gas phase. Only this last class is important environmentally. Carboxylic acids such<br />

as formic and acetic acid tend to dimerize, as do certain gases such as NO 2. The<br />

constant Z A is thus usually (1/RT) or about 4 ¥ 10 –4 mol/m 3 Pa and is the same for<br />

all noninteracting substances.<br />

The fugacity is thus numerically equal to the partial pressure of the solute P or<br />

yP T. This raises a question as to why we use the term fugacity in preference to partial<br />

pressure. The answers are that (1) under conditions when f is not unity, fugacity

Hooray! Your file is uploaded and ready to be published.

Saved successfully!

Ooh no, something went wrong!