Introductory Chemical Engineering Thermodynamics

Chapter 10. Introduction to Multicomponent Systems

What we obtain too cheap we esteem too lightly.

Thomas Paine

Superficially, the extension of pure component concepts to mixtures may seem simple. In fact, this is a significant problem of modern science that impacts phase transitions in semi- and superconductors, polymer solutions and blends, alloy materials, composites, and biochemistry. Specialists in each of these areas devote considerable effort to the basic problem of segmental interactions between molecules. From a thermodynamic perspective, these various research efforts are very similar. The specific types of molecules differ, and the pair potential models may be different, but the means of connecting the molecular scale to the macro ...