Solubility of nitrogen in methane, ethane, and mixtures of methane and ethane at Titan-like conditions: a molecular dynamics study
by Kumar, Pradeep; Chevrier, Vincent F.
We have studied the temperature dependence of the solubility of nitrogen in methane, ethane, and mixtures of methane and ethane using vapor-liquid equilibrium simulations of binary and ternary mixtures of nitrogen, methane and ethane for a range of temperatures between 90K and 110K at a pressure of 1.5 atm, thermodn. conditions that may exist on the Saturn's giant moon, Titan. We find that -(i) the solubility of nitrogen in both methane and ethane decreases with increasing temperature; (ii) the solubility of nitrogen in methane is much larger compared to that in ethane at low temperatures, (iii) solubility of nitrogen in a ternary mixture of methane, ethane, and nitrogen increases upon increasing mole-fraction of methane. Our results are in quant. agreement with the recent exptl. measurement of the solubility of nitrogen in methane, ethane, and a mixture of methane and ethane. Furthermore, we find a strong temperature-dependent surface adsorption of nitrogen at the nitrogen-hydrocarbon interface, previously unknown. We have also investigated surface tension of the gas-liquid interface and find that it decreases upon decreasing temperature Moreover, we find that the interfacial layer of adsorbed nitrogen and ethane show a preferential orientational ordering at the interface.
- Journal
- arXiv.org, e-Print Archive, Condensed Matter
- Year
- 2019
- Start Page
- 1-11
- URL
- https://dx.doi.org/10.48550/arxiv.1910.13343
- DOI
- 10.48550/arxiv.1910.13343