Reference Correlations of the Thermal Conductivity of Ethylene and Propylene

Published

August 9, 2016

Author(s)

A. Koutian, Marc J. Assael, Marcia L. Huber, Richard A. Perkins

Abstract

New, wide-range reference equations for the thermal conductivity of ethylene and propylene as a function of temperature and density are presented. The equations are based in part upon a body of experimental data that has been critically assessed for internal consistency and for agreement with theory whenever possible. For ethylene we estimate the uncertainty (at the 95% confidence level) for the thermal conductivity from 110 K to 520 K at pressures up to 200 MPa to be 5% for the compressed liquid and supercritical phases. For the low-pressure gas phase (to 0.1 MPa) over the temperature range 270 K to 680 K, the estimated uncertainty is 4%. The correlation behaves in a physically reasonable manner down to the triple point and may be used at pressures up to 300 MPa although the uncertainty will be larger in regions where experimental data were unavailable. In the case of propylene, data is much more limited. We estimate the uncertainty for the thermal conductivity of propylene from 260 K to 625 K at pressures up to 50 MPa to be 6% for the liquid and supercritical phases. For the low-pressure (up to 0.1 MPa) gas phase from liquid at temperatures from 230 K to 625 K the estimated uncertainty is 5%. The correlation behaves in a physically reasonable manner down to the triple point and may be used at pressures up to 100 MPa although the uncertainty will be larger in regions where experimental data were unavailable. For both fluids, uncertainties in the critical region are much larger, since the thermal conductivity approaches infinity at the critical point and is very sensitive to small changes in density.

Citation

J. Phys. & Chem. Ref. Data (JPCRD) -

Volume

45

Issue

3

NIST Pub Series

J. Phys. & Chem. Ref. Data (JPCRD)

Pub Type

NIST Pubs

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DOI Link

Keywords

critical phenomena, ethylene, propylene, reference correlations, thermal conductivity, transport properties.

Citation

Koutian, A. , Assael, M. , Huber, M. and Perkins, R. (2016), Reference Correlations of the Thermal Conductivity of Ethylene and Propylene, J. Phys. & Chem. Ref. Data (JPCRD), National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, MD, [online], https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4958984 (Accessed October 10, 2025)