Prototype G PROBLEM STATEMENT Use MATLAB to Calculate Z and
Solution
Ans-Approximates compressibility factor (commonly denoted Z) of gas at a given temperature and absolute pressure. Calculated by Van der Waals equation of state.
Z = PV/(RT)
Solves compressibility factor for the following gases:
 air
 ammonia
 argon
 butane
 carbon dioxide
 carbon monoxide
 methane
 ethane
 helium
 hydrogen
 neon
 nitrogen
 oxygen
 propane
 sulfur dioxide
 sulfur hexafluoride
Note: The Van der Waals equation is an improvement of the ideal gas law, above the critical temperature, and is also qualitatively reasonable below the critical temperature, but it is almost never appropriate for rigorous quantitative calculations. (Paraphrased from T.L. Hill, Statistical Thermodynamics, Addison-Wesley, Reading (1960))
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  Example 1: Find the compressibility factor of methane at 280 K and 20 bar:
Z = compressibility(\'methane\',280,20)
 Z = 0.951
The above example shows that methane at 280 K and 20 bar deviates from the ideal gas law by approximately 4.9%.
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  Example 2: Calculate Z for a range of pressures with constant temperature:
T = 195; % [°K]
 P = 1:100; % [bar]
Z = compressibility(\'sf6\',T,P);
plot(P,Z)
 box off
 xlabel(\'hydrostatic pressure (bar)\')
 ylabel(\'compressibility factor {\\it Z}\')
 title([\'SF_6 at \',num2str(T),\' K\'])
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  Example 3: Calculate Z for an array ofCalculate Z for arrays of simultaneously-varying pressure and temperature values.
compressibility(\'methane\',[280 300 350],[1 10 20])
ans =
     0.9976
     0.9802
     0.9755
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This function can be modified to solve for any gas you wish if you know its critical temperature Tc and critical pressure Pc. Do this by adding a case in the following form
case \'your gas\'
     Tc = YourGasTc; % [K] critical temperature
     Pc = YourGasPc; % [bar] critical pressure
Above you must enter the name of \'your gas\' and the correct values for YourGasTc and YourGasPc.
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I am not a thermodynamicist, so I can not fully attest to the accuracy of this function, or the appropriateness of using it for any given gas (including the gases listed above).


