Introductory Chemical Engineering Thermodynamics

Chapter 16. Advanced Phase Diagrams

Whenever new fields of technology are developed, they will involve atoms and molecules. Those will have to be manipulated on a large scale, and that will mean that chemical engineering will be involved—inevitably.

Isaac Asimov (1988)

This chapter discusses topics related to phase behavior at a higher level of conception. We have seen that VLE, LLE, and SLE can occur for various isolated systems under specific conditions. We can even anticipate conditions when one type of phase behavior may dominate. For example, a large value of k₁₂ is likely to lead to LLE. But the LLE must subside if the temperature is higher than the liquid-liquid critical temperature. Furthermore, VLE must subside if the temperature is ...