AIChE Journal, Vol.56, No.7, 1907-1921, 2010
Modified Rachford-Rice Equations Including Interfacial Contributions and their Application to the Nucleation Process
The Rachford-Rice expressions [Rachford HH, Rice JD, Petroleum Trans AIME 1952195:327-328] have been modified to include interfacial contributions in the calculation of the equilibrium coexistence between two macroscopic phases. It is shown that two-phase equilibrium states for first-order phase transitions from nucleation to the presence of evolved macroscopic phases can be characterized by using these generalized expressions. Thus, this new treatment allows the determination of the critical inclusion of nucleation of the so-called dispersed phase in a way similar to the determination of incipient new-phase formation points of a saturated phase on the binodal curve. (C) 2009 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 56: 1907-192], 2010