Gas Compressibility Factor (Z) for Control Valve Sizing Purposes

GAS: Nitrogen TAG:

COND 1 COND 2 COND 3 COND 4

CRITICAL TEMP DEG F -232.52 =========> =========> ========>
CRITICAL PRESS PSIA 492.52 =========> =========> ========>

UPSTREAM TEMP DEG F 100.00 10.00 10.00 -100.00

UPSTREAM PRESS PSIA 500.00 500.00 1000.00 2000.00

COMPRESS. FACTOR (Z) 1.00 0.98 0.96 0.85

Reduced Temperature (Tr) 2.464 2.068 2.068 1.583

Tr within limits Tr within limits Tr within limits Tr within limits
Reduced Pressure (Pr) 1.015 1.015 2.030 4.061
Pr within limits Pr within limits Pr within limits Pr within limits
 Excel Worksheet for determining
Gas Compressibility Factor (Z) for Control Valve Sizing Purposes

About the compressibility factor

Equation 9 of the IEC and ISA control valve sizing equation standards, rearranged to solve for Cv, is:

were N9 is a constant that depends on the engineering units that will be used in the calculation.

This equation uses upstream pressure, upstream temperature, the molecular mass of the gas and the
compressibility factor (Z) of the gas to include the upstream density of the gas in the Cv calculation. (I h
highlighted "Z" in red, because that is the subject of this Excel worksheet.) The IEC/ISA standards inclu
their equation, but they do not make any suggestion as to how to determine its value. The compressibi
is included to correct what would otherwise be the density based on the "Ideal gas equation" for the be
real gas. The Ideal gas equation assumes that there is no interaction between gas molecules which in
cases there may be. It turns out that many of the gasses used in industrial processes, at the temperatu
are often used , have minimal interaction between molecules, so assuming that the Ideal gas equation
sufficient can be satisfactory for control valve sizing purposes. Entering a value of 1.0 for Z causes Equ
use a density based on the Ideal gas equation. In cases where Z turns out to be significantly different t
the result can be mis-sizing of a control valve. For example, if the actual compressibility factor is 0.7, b
of 1.0 is used in the calculation, the calculated Cv will be about 20% high.

About the worksheet

This worksheet is distributed at no charge on an as-is basis. The author does not assume any liability f

No claim of copyright is made, as it is the authors intention that it should be in the public domain for us
anyone who wishes to.

This worksheet approximates the compressibility factor of gasses using tabulated data from the Nelson
generalized compressibility charts. These charts are said to have an accuracy within 1-2 percent for Z
greater than 0.6 and within 4-6 percent for Z values of 0.3-0.6. The generalized compressibility factor g
may be considerably in error for strongly polar gases, with errors as great as 15 to 20 percent. Typical
non-polar gasses are listed below.

The quantum gases hydrogen, helium, and neon do not conform to the corresponding-states behavior
reduced pressure and temperature for those three gases should be redefined in the following manner t
the accuracy of predicting their compressibility factors when using the generalized graphs:

where the temperatures are in kelvins and the pressures are in atmospheres

The worksheet is valid for reduced pressures between 0.0 and 20 and for reduced temperatures betwe
and 15. The Nelson-Obert low pressure chart gives some data for reduced temperatures less than 1.0,
is not enough data to lend it to the present method of tabulating data and interpolating between given d
points. I think the reason for this scarcity of data is that the authors of the chart were not able to find m
agreement between various gasses and their compressibility factors in the area between the reduced
where the temperatures are in kelvins and the pressures are in atmospheres

The worksheet is valid for reduced pressures between 0.0 and 20 and for reduced temperatures betwe
and 15. The Nelson-Obert low pressure chart gives some data for reduced temperatures less than 1.0,
is not enough data to lend it to the present method of tabulating data and interpolating between given d
points. I think the reason for this scarcity of data is that the authors of the chart were not able to find m
agreement between various gasses and their compressibility factors in the area between the reduced
temperature (Tr) = 1.0 isotherm and the saturated vapor line.

Although the worksheet is configured for conventional US units (Degrees F and pounds per square inc
absolute) there is a space to the right of the user interface where the user can easily change the conve
factors for other temperature and pressure units. If you change the conversion factors, you can also ed
designations in Column B to agree with your revised conversion factors. Keep in mind that all of the ca
are carried out in absolute pressure and temperature units.

All of the worksheet cells, except those that are intended for user input, are protected to prevent inadve
changes to the calculations. If you want to make changes, the password is eliminator but if you make
changes you do so at your own risk. Please dont include my name with any revised worksheet or othe
my calculation method.

I was able to find copies of the Nelson-Obert charts with a Google search. The ones I liked the best we
at: http://test.sdsu.edu/testhome/Test/solve/basics/tables-SB/tablesRG/zNO.html

The Wikipedia article makes good reading on the subject: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compressibil

Using the worksheet

The worksheet has room for up to four sets of process conditions, making it compatible with the contro
sizing worksheets on the Control Valve Application Tools web site (www.control-valve-application-tools
with many of the valve manufacturers control valve sizing programs which typically are configured to p
simultaneous calculations for up to four sets of process data.

The user interface is in the upper left corner of the worksheet.

You can optionally enter the name of the gas and the tag number of the valve for which you are doing
calculations, for your reference, if you are going to either save or print out the worksheet. The print are
been set so that printing will give a print out of the user interface area.

Simply enter the critical temperature and critical pressure of the gas, and up to four upstream temperat
pressures. The fields where the calculated compressibility factor(s) appear will remain blank until all re
data has been entered.

For your reference, below the data and results area, the reduced temperature (T r) and reduced pressu
being used in the calculation are displayed along with a note stating whether T r and Pr are within or out
limits of the worksheet.

If you have entered temperatures or pressures that result in T r or Pr that are outside the stated limits, th
COMPRESS. FACTOR (Z) field will read #NA and the notes below that will state which parameter is ou

When the process approaches the critical point (Tr and Pr both equal 1.0) the compressibility factor cha
rapidly making it difficult to read the charts accurately or interpolate between points accurately. This is
notable at the critical temperature (Tr = 1.0) and reduced pressures (Pr) between about 1.0 and 2.0. Als
look at the medium pressure Nelson-Obert chart, the Tr isotherm of 1.0 is almost vertical as it approach
critical pressure (Pr = 1.00). This is because in this area, the compressibility factors of various gasses d
appear at the same point on the Tr = 1.0 isotherm. When the worksheet returns a compressibility factor
less than 0.35, the compressibility factor will be shown in red to remind users that their process conditi
When the process approaches the critical point (Tr and Pr both equal 1.0) the compressibility factor cha
rapidly making it difficult to read the charts accurately or interpolate between points accurately. This is
notable at the critical temperature (Tr = 1.0) and reduced pressures (Pr) between about 1.0 and 2.0. Als
look at the medium pressure Nelson-Obert chart, the Tr isotherm of 1.0 is almost vertical as it approach
critical pressure (Pr = 1.00). This is because in this area, the compressibility factors of various gasses d
appear at the same point on the Tr = 1.0 isotherm. When the worksheet returns a compressibility factor
less than 0.35, the compressibility factor will be shown in red to remind users that their process conditi
close to the critical point.

How the worksheet works

The worksheet calculates the compressibility factor (Z) based on a table (TABLE1) of tabulated values
compressibility factors taken from the Nelson-Obert generalized compressibility charts for a range of re
pressures and reduced temperatures. To account for pressures and temperatures between the tabulate
pressures and temperatures the worksheet does three sets of linear interpolations.

At the tabulated value of Tr below the users given value of T r the worksheet finds Z at the users given
Pr by interpolating between the tabulated value of P r above the users given value of Pr and the tabulat
Pr below the users given value of Pr.

The worksheet then repeats the above process at the tabulated value of T r above the users given valu

The worksheet then has values of Z at the users input value of P r at the tabulated values of Tr below a
the users input value of Tr.

The final step is to interpolate between these two values of Z to find the value of Z at the users input v
and Tr. You can follow the above process in Columns S, T, U and V, Rows 6 through 21, where each st
briefly described in Column W.

The worksheet determines the correct column to use in TABLE1 by using a VLOOKUP function in TAB
It then determines the correct row to use in TABLE1 by using a VLOOKUP function in Column 1 of TAB

Polar and nonpolar gasses

Polar molecules occur when two atoms do not share electrons equally in a covalent bond. A dipole form
part of the molecule carrying a slight positive charge and the other part carrying a slight negative charg
happens when there is a difference between the electronegativity of each atom.

Examples of polar molecules include:

water - H2O
ammonia - NH3
sulfur dioxide - SO2
hydrogen sulfide - H2S
ethanol - C2H6O

When molecules share electrons equally in a covalent bond there is no net electrical charge across the
Examples of nonpolar molecules include:

any of the noble gases: He, Ne, Ar, Kr, Xe

any of the homonuclear diatomic elements: H2, N2, O2, Cl2
carbon dioxide - CO2
benzene - C6H6
carbon tetrachloride - CCl4
methane - CH4
ethylene - C H
any of the noble gases: He, Ne, Ar, Kr, Xe
any of the homonuclear diatomic elements: H2, N2, O2, Cl2
carbon dioxide - CO2
benzene - C6H6
carbon tetrachloride - CCl4
methane - CH4
ethylene - C2H4
hydrocarbon liquids, such as gasoline and toluene
most organic molecules