Excess Thermodynamic Properties of Chainlike Mixtures. 1. Predictions from the Soft-SAFT Equation of State and Molecular Simulation

Monte Carlo simulation and theory are used to calculate excess thermodynamic properties of binary mixtures of Lennard-Jones chains. Chainlike molecules are formed by Lennard-Jones spherical sites that are tangentially bonded. This molecular model accounts explictly for the most important microscopic features of real chainlike molecules, such as n-alkanes: repulsive and attractive forces between chemical groups and the connectivity of segments to make up the chain. A version of the statistical associating fluid theory, the so-called SoftSAFT equation of state, is used to check the theory’s ability to predict this kind of property. Predictions from the theory are directly compared to NPT Monte Carlo simulation results obtained in the present work. The influence of segment size, dispersive energy, and chain length on excess properties is studied using simulation and theory, and results are analyzed and discussed. The equation of state is then used to predict the general trends of some excess thermodynamic properties of real n-alkane binary mixtures, such as excess volumes and heats. In particular, the temperature and chain-length dependence of these properties is studied. The Soft-SAFT theory is found to be able to correctly describe the most important features of excess thermodynamic properties of n-alkane models.