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Updated: Jul 17, 2026

Thermal Measurement Techniques in Analytical Microfluidic Devices
Published on: June 3, 2015
Theoretical approach to evaluate thermodiffusion in aqueous alkanol solutions
Shu Pan1, M Ziad Saghir, Masahiro Kawaji
1Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario M5S 3E5, Canada.
Abstract:
Flow due to thermodiffusion may change direction in fluid mixtures with the variation of composition and temperature. This occurrence remains an unraveled phenomenon in petroleum research. Using a modified theoretical approach, this paper evaluates the thermal diffusion factor in alkanol water mixtures, including methanol, ethanol, and isopropanol aqueous mixtures. By combining this approach with an equation of state perturbed chain statistical associating fluid theory and using two adjustable parameters calculated from experimental data, the present approach provides a good agreement for the prediction of thermal diffusion in alkanol water mixtures when compared with the available experimental data. This work reveals that the thermodiffusion in infinite dilutions may play an important role in understanding the thermodiffusion phenomena.
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