Solubility of Solid Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons in Pressurized Hot Water: Correlation with Pure Component Properties

A semiempirical relationship was developed to correlate solubility of solid polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in pressurized hot water using only pure-component properties. The required properties of water include cohesive energy density, internal pressure, and relative permittivity (dielectric constant), all at the particular temperature and pressure. The required properties of PAHs include triplepoint temperature, enthalpy of fusion, the molar volume of the subcooled liquid, and the molar volume of the solid. The correlation was developed from experimental solubility data of eight 2- to 5-ring PAHs at temperatures within 313-498 K, with the solubility (equilibrium mole fraction) ranging within 10^-11 to 10^-3. Considering the wide range of the source data, the extreme nonideality of water-PAH systems, and the absence of any water-PAH interaction parameters, the correlation provides an adequate reproduction of the source data. Further, the correlation yields a relatively reasonable prediction of PAH solubilities outside the range of the source data, namely, at environmentally relevant conditions of 298.15 K and 0.1 MPa. In addition to the correlation, new data on aqueous solubilities of fluorene and fluoranthene are also reported.