Calculation of critical lines of hydrocarbon/water systems by extrapolating mixing rules fitted to subcritical equilibrium data

The phase behavior of water/hydrocarbon mixtures in a wide range of pressures is important for various applications ranging from reservoir engineering to environmental engineering. In this work, mutual solubility and critical loci of hydrocarbon/water systems are calculated using the Peng–Robinson–Stryjek–Vera cubic equation of state with four mixing rules: (1) van der Waals mixing rules with one binary interaction parameter (vdW-1), (2) van der Waals mixing rules with asymmetric composition dependent binary interaction parameter (vdW-A), (3) Wong–Sandler mixing rules (WS) and (4) second-order modified Huron–Vidal mixing rules (MHV2). It was found that the parameters obtained from correlating liquid–liquid equilibria using different mixing rules would lead to prediction of completely different forms of critical behavior. Unusual branches of critical loci were found with WS and MHV2 mixing rules. Therefore, equation of states models must be used with extreme caution when applied for predicting phase behavior over wide ranges of temperatures and pressures.