Viscosity and dew point measurements of {xCH4 + (1 - X)C4H10} for x = 0.9484 with a vibrating-wire viscometer

© 2015 American Chemical Society. The viscosity of {xCH4 + (1 - x)C4H10} with x = 0.9484 has been measured at temperatures and pressures in the range (200 to 423) K and (2 to 30) MPa, respectively, corresponding to densities between (20 and 371) kg·m-3. The measurements were made using a vibrating-wire-viscometer with the wire clamped at both ends and operated in steady-state mode with a combined relative uncertainty of 1 %. The viscometer was also used to investigate the ability of a vibrating-wire instrument to determine the upper and lower dew pressures of the mixture in the retrograde region at (263 and 273) K. The dew pressures were determined by identifying the point along an isothermal pathway at which the slope of the wire's resonance half-width with pressure exhibited a discontinuity. At the upper dew pressures near 10 MPa the results were consistent to within 0.2 MPa of predictions made using the GERG-2008 equation of state (EOS), while at the lower dew pressures near 3 MPa the agreement was within 0.3 MPa. To facilitate future dew-point measurements, where it may be desirable to scan the mixture pressure rapidly, a novel ring-down technique was demonstrated utilizing the steady-state setup configuration, allowing accurate transient measurements without requiring fast data acquisition and providing flexibility for automated measurements.