IUPAC-NIST solubility data series. 76. Solubility of ethyne in liquids

Abstract

Ethyne was probably first made in the laboratory by Edmund Davy in 1836. It was rediscovered nearly a quarter of a century later by Berthelot who gave it the name acetylene. Since that time ethyne has become a cheap raw material for the synthesis of organic materials and an important industrial fuel. A summary of the available solubility data for ethyne was published by Miller in 1965 [S. A Miller, <i>Acetylene—Its Properties, Manufacture, and Uses</i> (Academic, New York, 1965), Vol. I]. Many more data are now available in a wide range of research papers and patent applications. These data vary in their reliability. In the current work the data for systems included in Miller’s book have been reassessed and complemented by data published more recently. Literature has been surveyed to 1999. Data for a system may be unreliable unless two or more groups of workers have published values in close agreement. Where possible values of the mole fraction solubility at a partial pressure of 101.3 kPa have been tabulated. Equations have been given for the variation of mole fraction with temperature in cases in which values over a temperature range are available. The greater the number of independent sources of the data the more the reliance which can be placed on the utility of the resulting equation. Extrapolation of such equations beyond the temperature range of experimental measurements can lead to errors. In many of the systems it may be assumed that approximate values of the mole fraction solubility, 𝑥₁, at a partial pressure of 101.3 kPa may be obtained by linear extrapolation of values for lower partial pressures, 𝑝₁, on the assumption that 𝑥₁/p₁ is approximately constant. However a similar linear extrapolation of solubilities at pressures appreciably higher that 101.3 kPa to give mole fraction solubilities at 101.3 kPa can lead to gross errors. For the purpose of evaluation of data use has been made of the Krichevsky–Il’inskaya equation to obtain approximate values of solubilities at 101.3 kPa from measurements at higher pressures. These values were then compared with measurements made at or near to 101.3 kPa.