Solubility of water in hydrocarbons as a function of water activity.
A method is described for determination of low solubilities of water in organic liquids (such as are used in solvent extraction) by vacuum distillation of a suitably sized equilibrated sample through magnesium perchlorate in a conventional weighing tube. Tritium tracer is used to estimate completeness of water absorption. At the same time, the results serve to evaluate the ratio of tritium and water distribution coefficients for use in collateral determinations of water solubility by simple liquid-liquid distribution. The solubility of water in benzene, n-hexane, and cyclohexane is 0.0363, 0.00362, and 0.00345M respectively. The dissolved water follows Henry's law, the mole fraction constants being 0.00323, 0.000476, and 0.000375 respectively.
Roddy
J W
JW
Oak Ridge National Laboratory, P.O. Box X, Oak Ridge, Tennessee 37830, U.S.A.
Coleman
C F
CF