Prediction of carbon dioxide solubility in sugar-water-alcohol solutions at high pressure for application to...

In the beverage industry, the CO₂ pressure and dissolved CO₂ reached in their packaged beverage play an important role. In this regard, the work aims to develop a thermodynamic model for the prediction of the phase equilibrium behavior of quaternary CO₂-sugar-water-alcohol solutions up to high pressures. The Perturbed Hard Sphere Chain (PHSC) equation of state (EoS) has been used to predict the solubility of CO₂ in glucose-water-alcohol solutions. Glucose molecules have been modeled as a chain-like molecule with ten association sites. Cross-association between CO₂, glucose, and water molecules has been considered. Temperature-dependent binary interaction parameter (BIP) has been considered to improve the model performance. The solubility of glucose in water and ethanol has been estimated at various temperatures. As well, the vapor-liquid equilibrium behavior of the ternary CO₂-glucose-water system has been predicted. The results show that the model can predict the solubility of CO₂ in a glucose-water mixture satisfactory. In some sparking drinks, ethanol is widely used. In this regard, the prediction of CO₂ solubility in the water-ethanol-glucose mixture has been investigated. The vapor-liquid equilibrium of the quaternary CO₂-water-ethanol-glucose system has been predicted up to 30 MPa without using any additional adjustable parameter. The results show that, the deviation between model and experimental data in liquid and vapor phases increases by increasing ethanol concentration. The proposed model can be used for the prediction of CO₂ solubility and equilibrium compositions of quaternary CO₂-water-ethanol-glucose system over a wide range of pressures, temperatures, and sugar (or ethanol) concentrations.