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Determine Compressibility factor, Z Factor

Equation of state

Any equation correlating P,V, n and T is called an equation of state. Let start started with ideal gas law:

PV=nRT.

Where:

P= absolute Pressure.

V= Volume.

n=  Numbers of mols of gas.

T= absolute Temperature.

R= Constant named “universal gas contant”.

This law is mixture of the old boyle’s Law and Charles’ Law. It adopts that the molecules occupy no space and have no attractive forces which is apply at low pressures and the compounds temperature are a long way from their condensing temperature.

Because of the simplicity of the ideal gas law, it was corrected by the compressibility factor Z to describe non ideal gas “real gas behavior” which gives us:

Pv=nZRT.

Where:

P= absolute Pressure.

V= Volume.

n= Numbers of moles of gas.

T= absolute Temperature.

R= Constant named “universal gas constant”.

Z= Compressibility factor called “Z factor”

Z factor definition

The compressibility factor definition provided by Wikipedia:

[box type=”info”]“The compressibility factor (Z), also known as the compression factor or the gas deviation factor, is the ratio of the molar volume of a gas to the molar volume of an ideal gas at the same temperature and pressure. It is a useful thermodynamic property for modifying the ideal gas law to account for the real gas behavior. In general, deviation from ideal behavior becomes more significant the closer a gas is to a phase change, the lower the temperature or the larger the pressure. Compressibility factor values are usually obtained by calculation from equations of state (EOS), such as the virial equation which take compound-specific empirical constants as input. For a gas that is a mixture of two or more pure gases (air or natural gas, for example), the gas composition must be known before compressibility can be calculated. Alternatively, the compressibility factor for specific gases can be read from generalized compressibility charts that plot as a function of pressure at constant temperature.”[/box]

“The compressibility factor (Z), also known as the compression factor or the gas deviation factor, is the ratio of the molar volume of a gas to the molar volume of an ideal gas at the same temperature and pressure. It is a useful thermodynamic property for modifying the ideal gas law to account for the real gas behavior. In general, deviation from ideal behavior becomes more significant the closer a gas is to a phase change, the lower the temperature or the larger the pressure. Compressibility factor values are usually obtained by calculation from equations of state (EOS), such as the virial equation which take compound-specific empirical constants as input. For a gas that is a mixture of two or more pure gases (air or natural gas, for example), the gas composition must be known before compressibility can be calculated.
Alternatively, the compressibility factor for specific gases can be read from generalized compressibility charts that plot  as a function of pressure at constant temperature.”

The compressibility factor Z, as cited above, may also be defined as actual volume divided by the ideal volume:

There are three regimes area that affect the compressibility factor Z:

  1. Z =0, the value of Z tends toward 1 as the gas pressure approaches 0, where all gases tend toward ideal behaviour which lead to the actual volume equal to the ideal volume.
  2. Z < 1 , the value of Z is less than 1, at intermediate pressures because the intermolecular forces of attraction cause the actual volumes to be less than the ideal volume.
  3. Z > 1, the value of Z is greater than 1 and ultimately tends toward infinity at high pressures due to the intermolecular repulsive forces cause the actual volumes to be greater than the ideal volume.

 

How to calculate compressibility factor for gas mixture

In this section we will apply a correction factor to the ideal gas equation, Katz Correlation and Kay’s Rule:

  • P V = Z R T
  • Tr  =  T / Tc
  • P r = P / Pc

Kay’z rule:Determine Compressibility factor, Z Factor

Where yi is the mole fraction of each component in the mixture and Tci and Pci are the critical values for each component.

After calculation of the pressure critical value and temperature critical value, we need to calculation the corresponding reduced values as shown below:

reduced values temperature
reduced values temperature
reduced values pressure
reduced values pressure

Now extract Z factor from the below figure (from GPSA Data Book). Katz compressibility factor chart give the data on “Z” as a general correlation.

Compressibility  factor Z chart

Compressibility factor Z chart
Compressibility factor Z chart

Effect of The of Sour Gas Content on Compressibilty Factor:

Katz Correlation for the compressibility factor is extended by Wichert and Aziz for the gas containing H2S and CO2 to get on account this difference. Wichert and Aziz introduce a new term a “critical temperature adjustment factor,” ᵋ, which is proportional to the concentrations of CO2 and H2S in the sour gas.

Determine Compressibility factor, Z Factor

Where:

ᵋ : Correction factor in degrees Rankine.

A : mol fraction H2S plus CO2 in the gas.

B : mol fraction H2S in the Gas.

The equations for making the adjustment follow:

corrected value of the pressure critical value
corrected value of the pressure critical value
corrected value of the Temperature critical value
corrected value of the Temperature critical value

After calculation of the corrected value of the pressure critical value and temperature critical value, we need to calculation the corresponding reduced values.

Finally you can read the Z factor from the regular standing and Katz chart (above chart).

Example for compressibility factor of natural gas

In this section we will treat a real example for compressibility factor of natural gas:

We find the compressibility factor for the natural gas of the composition given bellow at 2014 psia and 80oF:

% mol fraction
N2 0.66
H2S 25.65
Co2 4.73
C1 67.57
C2 0.56
C3+ 0.83
100

Solution:

How to calculate the compressibility factor of natural gas using Katz chart, E. Wichert and K. Aziz?

  1. Calculate the Pseudo Tc and pseudo Pc for a mixture in the regular manner.
  2. Find the value for ᵋ depending on the composition.
  3. Find sour gas T’c
  4. Find sour gas P’c
  5. Calculate pseudo reduced temperature and pressure using the above data.
  6. Read “Z” from regular standing and Katz chart, Fig shown above (16-3 GPSA Data Book).

Results:

% mol fraction Tc  T’c Pc P’c
N2 0,66 227 1,4982 492 3,2472
H2S 25,65 672 172,3680 1300 333,45
Co2 4,73 548 25,9204 1071 50,6583
C1 67,57 343 231,7651 666 450,0162
C2 0,56 550 3,0800 707 3,9592
C3+ 0,83 666 5,5278 617 5,1211
sum % mol 100 sum ‘Tc 440,1595 Sum ‘Pc 846,452

 

A 0,3038
B 0,2565
e 30,76358

 

Tc” 409,3959 Tr 1,3190
Pc” 776,9361 Pr 2,5922
Z from the graph 0,68

Other Equation of state and Correlation

In this section the below we will review some correlations for the equation of state other than Z factor:
Van der Waals equation:

Van der Waals equation:

a and b are talk about to as “the Van der Waals constants”, they are not really constants since they differ from one gas to another; they are, however, independent of PV and T. In other terms, they are constant for the gas selected.

Given the critical temperature and pressure for a specific gas, a and b can be found for that chosen gas from these equations:

a Van der Waals

b Van der Waals

Beattie Bridgeman Equation:

Beattie Bridgeman Equation

Where A0, B0, a, b and c are constants Beattie Bridgeman Equation for chosen gas. This constants are relates to pure compounds and mixtures of gases similar chemical species. This correlation should not be used for liquid phase behaviour.

Webb-Rubin equation modified by starling:

Webb-Rubin equation modified by starling:

Where B0, A0, C0, D0, E0, b, a, α, c, d, ϒ are constants for a specific compound.

Compressibility Factor Table:

Air Compressibility Factor Table:

Temp., K Pressure, bar
1 5 10 20 40 60 80 100 150 200 250 300 400 500
75
80
90
100
120
140
160
180
200
250
300
350
400
450
500
600
800
1000
0.0052
0.9764
0.9797
0.9880
0.9927
0.9951
0.9967
0.9978
0.9992
0.9999
1.0000
1.0002
1.0003
1.0003
1.0004
1.0004
1.0004
0.0260
0.0250
0.0236
0.8872
0.9373
0.9614
0.9748
0.9832
0.9886
0.9957
0.9987
1.0002
1.0012
1.0016
1.0020
1.0022
1.0020
1.0018
0.0519
0.0499
0.0471
0.0453
0.8660
0.9205
0.9489
0.9660
0.9767
0.9911
0.9974
1.0004
1.0025
1.0034
1.0034
1.0039
1.0038
1.0037
0.1036
0.0995
0.0940
0.0900
0.6730
0.8297
0.8954
0.9314
0.9539
0.9822
0.9950
1.0014
1.0046
1.0063
1.0074
1.0081
1.0077
1.0068
0.2063
0.1981
0.1866
0.1782
0.1778
0.5856
0.7803
0.8625
0.9100
0.9671
0.9917
1.0038
1.0100
1.0133
1.0151
1.0164
1.0157
1.0142
0.3082
0.2958
0.2781
0.2635
0.2557
0.3313
0.6603
0.7977
0.8701
0.9549
0.9901
1.0075
1.0159
1.0210
1.0234
1.0253
1.0240
1.0215
0.4094
0.3927
0.3686
0.3498
0.3371
0.3737
0.5696
0.7432
0.8374
0.9463
0.9903
1.0121
1.0229
1.0287
1.0323
1.0340
1.0321
1.0290
0.5099
0.4887
0.4581
0.4337
0.4132
0.4340
0.5489
0.7084
0.8142
0.9411
0.9930
1.0183
1.0312
1.0374
1.0410
1.0434
1.0408
1.0365
0.7581
0.7258
0.6779
0.6386
0.5964
0.5909
0.6340
0.7180
0.8061
0.9450
1.0074
1.0377
1.0533
1.0614
1.0650
1.0678
1.0621
1.0556
1.0025
0.9588
0.8929
0.8377
0.7720
0.7699
0.7564
0.7986
0.8549
0.9713
1.0326
1.0635
1.0795
1.0913
1.0913
1.0920
1.0844
1.0744
1.1931
1.1098
1.0395
0.9530
0.9114
0.8840
0.9000
0.9311
1.0152
1.0669
1.0947
1.1087
1.1183
1.1183
1.1172
1.1061
1.0948
1.4139
1.3110
1.2227
1.1076
1.0393
1.0105
1.0068
1.0185
1.0702
1.1089
1.1303
1.1411
1.1463
1.1463
1.1427
1.1283
1.1131
1.7161
1.5937
1.5091
1.3202
1.2585
1.2232
1.2054
1.1990
1.2073
1.2116
1.2117
1.2090
1.2051
1.1947
1.1720
1.1515
2.1105
1.9536
1.7366
1.5903
1.4970
1.4361
1.3944
1.3392
1.3163
1.3015
1.2890
1.2778
1.2667
1.2475
1.2150
1.1889

 

Methane Compressibility Factor Table:

Temp., K Pressure, bar
1 5 10 20 40 60 80 100 200 300 400 500

150
200
250
300
350
400
450
500
600
800
1000

0.9854
0.9936
0.9965
0.9983
0.9991
0.9995
0.9997
0.9999
1.0000
1.0003
1.0004
0.9225
0.9676
0.9838
0.9915
0.9954
0.9977
0.9989
0.9997
1.0009
1.0017
1.0014
0.8275
0.9339
0.9680
0.9830
0.9911
0.9953
0.9979
0.9995
1.0020
1.0034
1.0035
0.0714
0.8599
0.9352
0.9667
0.9825
0.9912
0.9963
0.9995
1.0039
1.0068
1.0071
0.1411
0.6784
0.8682
0.9343
0.9662
0.9835
0.9935
0.9996
1.0081
1.0130
1.0141
0.2093
0.3559
0.8020
0.9047
0.9520
0.9772
0.9917
1.0005
1.0125
1.0197
1.0207
0.2763
0.3172
0.7386
0.8783
0.9401
0.9726
0.9911
1.0022
1.0171
1.0263
1.0274
0.3423
0.3618
0.6854
0.8556
0.9306
0.9696
0.9916
1.0048
1.0217
1.0330
1.0342
0.6599
0.6141
0.6899
0.8280
0.9227
0.9779
1.0098
1.0285
1.0540
1.0678
1.0678
0.9623
0.8568
0.8554
0.9154
0.9800
1.0245
1.0528
1.0699
1.0969
1.1068
1.1033
1.2537
1.0887
1.0359
1.0432
1.0723
1.0986
1.1152
1.1248
1.1470
1.1496
1.1400
1.5363
1.3122
1.2155
1.1829
1.1804
1.1859
1.1899
1.1899
1.2019
1.1951
1.1790

Carbon  Monoxide CO, Compressibility Factor Table:

Temp., K Pressure, atm
1 4 7 10 40 70 100

200
250
300
350
400
450
500
600
700
800
900
1000
1500
2000
2500
3000

0.9973
0.9989
0.9997
1.0000
1.0002
1.0003
1.0004
1.0005
1.0005
1.0004
1.0004
1.0004
1.0003
1.0002
1.0002
1.0002
0.9893
0.9957
0.9987
1.0002
1.0010
1.0014
1.0016
1.0018
1.0018
1.0017
1.0017
1.0016
1.0012
1.0009
1.0007
1.0006
0.9813
0.9926
0.9977
1.0003
1.0017
1.0025
1.0029
1.0032
1.0032
1.0030
1.0029
1.0027
1.0021
1.0016
1.0013
1.0010
0.9734
0.9896
0.9968
1.0005
1.0025
1.0035
1.0041
1.0045
1.0045
1.0044
1.0041
1.0039
1.0029
1.0022
1.0018
1.0015
0.9632
0.9907
1.0042
1.0042
1.0152
1.0172
1.0186
1.0183
1.0175
1.0166
1.0156
1.0115
1.0088
1.0071
1.0059
0.9896
1.0112
1.0112
1.0285
1.0314
1.0332
1.0325
1.0309
1.0291
1.0273
1.0200
1.0155
1.0124
1.0104
0.9935
1.0216
1.0216
1.0433
1.0469
1.0485
1.0470
1.0445
1.0418
1.0391
1.0286
1.0221
1.0178
1.0148

Nitrogen N, Compressibility Factor Table:

Temp., K Pressure, bar
1 5 10 20 40 60 80 100 200 300 400 500

70
80
90
100
120
140
160
180
200
250
300
350
400
450
500
600
800
1000

0.0057
0.9593
0.9722
0.9798
0.9883
0.9927
0.9952
0.9967
0.9978
0.9992
0.9998
1.0001
1.0002
1.0003
1.0004
1.0004
1.0004
1.0003
0.0287
0.0264
0.0251
0.8910
0.9397
0.9635
0.9766
0.9846
0.9897
0.9960
0.9990
1.0007
1.0011
1.0018
1.0020
1.0021
1.0017
1.0015
0.0573
0.0528
0.0500
0.0487
0.8732
0.9253
0.9529
0.9690
0.9791
0.9924
0.9983
1.0011
1.0024
1.0033
1.0040
1.0040
1.0036
1.0034
0.1143
0.1053
0.0996
0.0966
0.7059
0.8433
0.9042
0.9381
0.9592
0.9857
0.9971
1.0029
1.0057
1.0073
1.0081
1.0084
1.0074
1.0067
0.2277
0.2093
0.1975
0.1905
0.1975
0.6376
0.8031
0.8782
0.9212
0.9741
0.9964
1.0069
1.0125
1.0153
1.0167
1.0173
1.0157
1.0136
0.3400
0.3122
0.2938
0.2823
0.2822
0.4251
0.7017
0.8125
0.8882
0.9655
0.9973
1.0125
1.0199
1.0238
1.0257
1.0263
1.0237
1.0205
0.4516
0.4140
0.3888
0.3720
0.3641
0.4278
0.6304
0.7784
0.8621
0.9604
1.0000
1.0189
1.0283
1.0332
1.0350
1.0355
1.0320
1.0275
0.5623
0.5148
0.4826
0.4605
0.4438
0.4799
0.6134
0.7530
0.8455
0.9589
1.0052
1.0271
1.0377
1.0430
1.0451
1.0450
1.0402
1.0347
1.1044
1.0061
0.9362
0.8840
0.8188
0.7942
0.8107
0.8550
0.9067
1.0048
1.0559
1.0810
1.0926
1.0973
1.0984
1.0951
1.0832
1.0714
1.6308
1.4797
1.3700
1.2852
1.1684
1.0996
1.0708
1.0669
1.0760
1.1143
1.1422
1.1560
1.1609
1.1606
1.1575
1.1540
1.1264
1.1078
Solid
1.9396
1.7890
1.6707
1.5015
1.3920
1.3275
1.2893
1.2683
1.2501
1.2480
1.2445
1.2382
1.2303
1.2213
1.2028
1.1701
1.1449
Solid
2.3879
2.1962
2.0441
1.8223
1.6726
1.5762
1.5105
1.4631
1.3962
1.3629
1.3405
1.3216
1.3043
1.2881
1.2657
1.2140
1.1814

Carbon  Dioxide CO2, Compressibility Factor Table:

Temp., °C Pressure, bar
1 5 10 20 40 60 80 100 200 300 400 500

0
50
100
150
200
250
300
350
400
450
500
600
700
800
900
1000

0.9933
0.9964
0.9977
0.9985
0.9991
0.9994
0.9996
0.9998
0.9999
1.0000
1.0000
1.0000
1.0003
1.0002
1.0002
1.0002
0.9658
0.9805
0.9883
0.9927
0.9953
0.9971
0.9982
0.9991
0.9997
1.0000
1.0004
1.0007
1.0010
1.0009
1.0009
1.0009
0.9294
0.9607
0.9764
0.9853
0.9908
0.9943
0.9967
0.9983
0.9994
1.0003
1.0008
1.0013
1.0017
1.0019
1.0020
1.0021
0.8496
0.9195
0.9524
0.9705
0.9818
0.9886
0.9936
0.9964
0.9989
1.0005
1.0015
1.0030
1.0036
1.0040
1.0041
1.0042
0.8300
0.9034
0.9416
0.9640
0.9783
0.9875
0.9938
0.9982
1.0013
1.0035
1.0062
1.0073
1.0082
1.0083
1.0084
0.7264
0.8533
0.9131
0.9473
0.9684
0.9822
0.9914
0.9979
1.0023
1.0056
1.0093
1.0161
1.0122
1.0128
1.0128
0.5981
0.8022
0.8854
0.9313
0.9593
0.9773
0.9896
0.9979
1.0038
1.0079
1.0129
1.0155
1.0168
1.0171
1.0172
0.4239
0.7514
0.8590
0.9170
0.9511
0.9733
0.9882
0.9984
1.0056
1.0107
1.0168
1.0198
1.0212
1.0221
1.0218
0.5891
0.7651
0.8649
0.9253
0.9640
0.9895
1.0073
1.0070
1.0282
1.0386
1.0436
1.0458
1.0463
1.0460
0.6420
0.7623
0.8619
0.9294
0.9746
1.0053
1.0266
1.0412
1.0522
1.0648
1.0707
1.0731
1.0726
1.0725
0.8235
0.8995
0.9508
1.0030
1.0340
1.0559
1.0709
1.0820
1.0948
1.1000
1.1016
1.1012
1.0725
0.9098
0.9621
1.0096
1.0464
1.0734
1.0928
1.1067
1.1165
1.1277
1.1318
1.1324
1.1303
1.1274

Oxygen Compressibility Factor Table:

Temp., K Pressure, bar
1 5 10 20 40 60 80 100 200 300 400 500
75
80
90
100
120
140
160
180
200
250
300
350
400
450
500
600
800
1000
0.0043
0.0041
0.0038
0.9757
0.9855
0.9911
0.9939
0.9960
0.9970
0.9987
0.9994
0.9998
1.0000
1.0002
1.0002
1.0003
1.0003
1.0003
0.0213
0.0203
0.0188
0.0177
0.9246
0.9535
0.9697
0.9793
0.9853
0.9938
0.9968
0.9990
1.0000
1.0007
1.0011
1.0014
1.0014
1.0013
0.0425
0.0406
0.0376
0.0354
0.8367
0.9034
0.9379
0.9579
0.9705
0.9870
0.9941
0.9979
1.0000
1.0015
1.0022
1.0024
1.0026
1.0026
0.0849
0.0811
0.0750
0.0705
0.0660
0.7852
0.8689
0.9134
0.9399
0.9736
0.9884
0.9961
1.0000
1.0024
1.0038
1.0052
1.0055
1.0053
0.1693
0.1616
0.1494
0.1404
0.1302
0.1334
0.6991
0.8167
0.8768
0.9477
0.9771
0.9919
1.0003
1.0048
1.0075
1.0102
1.0109
1.0101
0.2533
0.2418
0.2233
0.2096
0.1935
0.1940
0.3725
0.7696
0.8140
0.9237
0.9676
0.9890
1.0011
1.0074
1.0115
1.0153
1.0164
1.0149
0.3368
0.3214
0.2966
0.2783
0.2558
0.2527
0.2969
0.5954
0.7534
0.9030
0.9597
0.9870
1.0022
1.0106
1.0161
1.0207
1.0219
1.0198
0.4200
0.4007
0.3696
0.3464
0.3173
0.3099
0.3378
0.5106
0.6997
0.8858
0.9542
0.9870
1.0045
1.0152
1.0207
1.0266
1.0271
1.0253
0.8301
0.7912
0.7281
0.6798
0.6148
0.5815
0.5766
0.6043
0.6720
0.8563
0.9560
1.0049
1.0305
1.0445
1.0523
1.0582
1.0565
1.0507
1.2322
1.1738
1.0780
1.0040
0.8999
0.8374
0.8058
0.8025
0.8204
0.9172
0.9972
1.0451
1.0718
1.0859
1.0927
1.0961
1.0888
1.0783
1.6278
1.5495
1.4211
1.3206
1.1762
1.0832
1.0249
0.9990
0.9907
1.0222
1.0689
1.1023
1.1227
1.1334
1.1380
1.1374
1.1231
1.1072
2.0175
1.9196
1.7580
1.6309
1.4456
1.3214
1.2364
1.1888
1.1623
1.1431
1.1572
1.1722
1.1816
1.1859
1.1866
1.1803
1.1582
1.1369

Calculate the compressibility factor of methane using our online tool or just use our calculator for compressibility factor calculator reduced pressure and temperature tr pr.

[box type=”tip”]Reference: Natural Gas Processing Principles and Technology. PERRY’S Chemical Engineers Handbook. Gas Conditioning and Processing Volume:1. [/box]