Electrolyte Methods Page 1 of 1

Electrolyte Methods
The Pitzer and MNRTL methods actually calculate the phase equilibrium activity coefficients. They do not
compute the degree of dissociation of the electrolyte reactions. For this, an ionic equilibrium model must be
used. Both methods use the same approach to this portion of the problem.
The stoichiometry of all electrolyte reactions is specified and the reaction equilibrium constant, Keq, is used
to determine the equilibrium concentrations of all electrolyte species. Thus, in the hypothetical situation:

and

where ai = the activity of species i.

The Keq values may be specified (or taken from the CHEMCAD database) in the following form:

If left unspecified, the program computes Keq as follows:

where:

ΔG = change in system Gibbs free energy

R = gas law constant
T = temperature

The Gibbs free energy of formation is stored for all electrolyte species. The Gibbs energy differences are
adjusted for temperature and then summed to determine the overall Gibbs energy difference.
Activities are calculated by the electrolyte model selected, either Pitzer or MNRTL. These methods compute
the activity coefficients and therefore the phase equilibrium of the system.

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