ISSN print edition: 0366-6352 ISSN electronic edition: 1336-9075 Registr. No.: MK SR 9/7 Published monthly

Solubility of methane in pure non-ionic surfactants and pure and mixtures of linear alcohols at 298 K and 101.3 kPa

Balbina P. García-Aguilar, Antonio Avalos Ramirez, J. Peter Jones, and Mich`ele Heitz

Division of Environmental Technology, Universidad Tecnológica de Nezahualcóyotl (UTN), Circuito Universidad Tecnológica, S/N col. Benito Juárez, Ciudad Nezahualcóyotl, Estado de México, C.P. 57000 México

E-mail: Michele.Heitz@USherbrooke.ca

Abstract: The emissions of methane (CH₄), a powerful greenhouse gas (GES), contribute to the increase in GES concentration level in the atmosphere. For this reason, the importance of controlling CH₄ emissions of anthropogenic origin has increased over the last decades. Physicochemical and biological processes are available for treating CH₄. For this reason, such properties as the solubility of CH₄ in aqueous solutions and organic solvents are of great relevance in different applications in environmental engineering and biotechnology. In this study, the solubility of CH₄ was determined at 298 K and 101.3 kPa in organic solvents, such as polyoxyethylenesorbates (Tween 20, Tween 40, and Tween 60), and linear alcohols (methanol, ethanol, and butan-1-ol) alone and in their admixtures. Admixtures of methanol with butan-1-ol exhibited the highest solubility of CH₄, of around 0.49 g m⁻³ of solvent, whereas the solubility of CH₄ in linear alcohols varied from 0.167 g m⁻³ to 0.41 g m⁻³ of solvent. In the case of Tweens, CH₄ solubility decreased with the hydrophilic-lipophilic balance (HLB) number.

Keywords: methane solubility – partition coefficient – linear alcohols – polyoxyethylenesorbates – surfactants

Full paper is available at www.springerlink.com.

DOI: 10.2478/s11696-011-0008-3

Chemical Papers 65 (3) 373–379 (2011)