The system H2O-NaCl.: Part I:: Correlation formulae for phase relations in temperature-pressure-composition space from 0 to 1000 °C, 0 to 5000 bar, and 0 to 1 XNaCl

Realistic simulations of fluid flow in geologic systems have severely been hampered by the lack of a consistent formulation for fluid properties for binary salt-water fluids over the temperature-pressure-composition ranges encountered in the Earth's crust. As the first of two companion studies, a set of correlations describing the phase stability relations in the system H2O-NaCl is developed. Pure water is described by the IAPS-84 equation of state. New correlations comprise the vapor pressure of halite and molten NaCl, the NaCl melting curve, the composition of halite-saturated liquid and vapor, the pressure of vapor + liquid + halite coexistence, the temperature-pressure and temperature-composition relations for the critical curve, and the compositions of liquid and vapor on the vapor + liquid coexistence surface. The correlations yield accurate values for temperatures from 0 to 1000 degrees C, pressures from 0 to 5000 bar, and compositions from 0 to 1 X-NaCl (mole fraction of NaCl). To facilitate their use in fluid flow simulations, the correlations are entirely formulated as functions of temperature, pressure and composition. (C) 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.