The Compressibility of and an Equation of State for Gaseous Ethane

Abstract

The compressibility of gaseous ethane (C2H6) has been determined from 0.5 to 5.0 moles per liter and from 25° to 250°C with an estimated accuracy of 0.2 percent or better. Above 250°C ethane decomposes at an appreciable rate when confined in steel. An equation of state is fitted to the data. The average deviation of the calculated from the observed pressure is 0.13 atmosphere or 0.21 percent. The equation of state extrapolates to the critical pressure (at 7 moles/liter and 32.1°C) with an error of 10 percent and calculates the weight of a normal liter to 0.2 percent. The vapor pressures of liquid ethane at 0° and 25°C are given.