Development of a Predictive Tool for the Estimation of True Vapor Pressure of Volatile Petroleum Products

Abstract

In this article, an Arrhenius-type asymptotic exponential function combined with Vandermonde matrix, which is easier than existing approaches, less complicated with fewer computations, and suitable for process engineers, is presented here for the estimation of liquefied petroleum gas and natural gasoline true vapor pressure as a function of Reid vapor pressure and temperature. This predictive tool is recommended as a quick reference to determine true vapor pressures of typical liquefied petroleum gases, natural gasoline, and motor fuel components at various temperatures. Additionally, the developed tool will enable estimation of operating pressure of a storage tank necessary to maintain the stored fluid in a liquid state at various temperatures as well as for simple evaluation of refrigerated storage versus ambient temperature storage for liquefied petroleum gases. The proposed predictive tool works for temperatures in the range of 253 to 373 K and Reid vapor pressure more than 35 kPa. The proposed method is superior owing to its accuracy and clear numerical background based on Vandermonde matrix, wherein the relevant coefficients can be retuned quickly if more data are available. Estimations are found to be in excellent agreement with the reliable data in the literature with average absolute deviations being around 2.4%. The tool developed in this study can be of immense practical value for the engineers and scientists to have a quick check on the true vapor pressure of typical liquefied petroleum gases, natural gasoline, and motor fuel components at various conditions without opting for any experimental measurements. In particular, chemical and process engineers would find the approach to be user-friendly with transparent calculations involving no complex expressions.

Keywords::

• Arrhenius function
• petroleum product
• Reid vapor pressure
• storage tank
• true vapor pressure
• Vandremonde matrix