Contributions to International Standards on the Properties of Water

Water is probably the most widely used industrial fluid and it is important to have internationally accepted standards for its properties. This information is crucial to the analysis and design of thermal power cycles, as well as for climate studies including the hydrosphere. (Here is a summary of the history through 2001 of water and steam property measurements for the power generation industry, featuring the contributions of NIST/NBS.) IAPWS is an international non-profit association of national organizations concerned with the properties of water and steam, particularly thermophysical properties and other aspects of high-temperature steam, water and aqueous mixtures that are relevant to thermal power cycles and other industrial applications. NIST researchers are active in the leadership and working groups of IAPWS and have led the development of several recent standards adopted by IAPWS.

Researchers developed new formulations for the viscosity and thermal conductivity of water that incorporate new data and extend the ranges of applicability of the formulations compared to the previous correlations from the 1980s.  These formulations are useful not only for applications where the viscosity and/or thermal conductivity of water and steam is needed directly (such as the steam power industry), but also for applications where these properties are used as a reference for calibrations, measurements, or correlations involving other fluids.  The formulations are available through the IAPWS website, and have also been incorporated into NIST Standard Reference Database 23, (REFPROP, Reference Fluid Thermodynamic and Transport Properties) and NIST Standard Reference Database 10 (NIST/ASME Steam Properties) distributed by the Standard Reference Data Program of NIST.  Properties from the new viscosity and thermal conductivity formulations have also been incorporated into a new Third Edition of the widely used ASME Steam Tables book.

Another IAPWS project, co-led by a NIST researcher, was for the benefit of those in science and industry who do not need the comprehensive, wide-ranging IAPWS formulations because their interest is only for liquid water at atmospheric pressure (for example, for calibration of instruments). Simple correlations as a function of temperature were developed for convenient calculation of thermodynamic properties, viscosity, thermal conductivity, and static dielectric constant. In the region of applicability, the uncertainties of these correlations are no greater than those of the underlying IAPWS formulations.

Additional IAPWS work included the development of a new standard formulation for the vapor pressure of ice, based on a comprehensive evaluation of available thermodynamic information. Also, a new reference equation of state was developed for the thermodynamic properties of heavy water, replacing the previous standard that was approximately 40 years old.

Associated Publications:

• S. Herrig, M. Thol, A.H. Harvey, and E.W. Lemmon, A Reference Equation of State for Heavy Water, J. Phys. Chem. Ref. Data 47, 043102 (2018). https://www.nist.gov/publications/reference-equation-state-heavy-water
• M.L. Huber, R.A. Perkins, A. Laesecke, D.G. Friend, J.V. Sengers, M.J. Assael, I.N. Metaxa, E. Vogel, R. Mareš, and K. Miyagawa, New International Formulation for the Viscosity of H₂O, J. Phys. Chem. Ref. Data 38, 101 (2009). https://www.nist.gov/node/618911
• M.L. Huber, R.A. Perkins, D.G. Friend, J.V. Sengers, M.J. Assael, I.N. Metaxa, K. Miyagawa, R. Hellmann, and E. Vogel, New International Formulation for the Thermal Conductivity of H₂O, J. Phys. Chem. Ref. Data 41, 033102 (2012). https://www.nist.gov/node/586746
• J. Hrubý, J. Pátek, J. Klomfar, M. Součková, and A.H. Harvey, Reference Correlations for Thermophysical Properties of Liquid Water at 0.1 MPa, J. Phys. Chem. Ref. Data 38, 21 (2009). https://www.nist.gov/node/563576
• W. Wagner, T. Riethmann, R. Feistel, and A.H. Harvey, New Equations for the Sublimation Pressure and Melting Pressure of H₂O Ice Ih J. Phys. Chem. Ref. Data 40, 043103 (2011). https://www.nist.gov/node/563571
• W.T. Parry, J.C. Bellows, J.S. Gallagher, A.H. Harvey, and R.D. Harwood, ASME International Steam Tables for Industrial Use, Third Edition (ASME Press, New York, 2014). https://www.nist.gov/node/790706