CROSSOVER FROM SINGULAR CRITICAL TO REGULAR CLASSICAL THERMODYNAMIC BEHAVIOR OF FLUIDS

A procedure is presented for constructing a thermodynamic free energy for fluids in the critical region that incorporates the crossover from Ising-like singular behavior near the critical point to regular classical behavior far away from the critical point. The procedure is based on an approximation of the solution of the renormalization-group theory of critical phenomena, modified to include effects from a cutoff wave number for the crossover to the classical limit. As an illustration we show how the procedure can be applied to a truncated classical Landau expansion. The results are compared with experimental thermodynamic-property data for carbon dioxide, steam, and ethylene in the critical region. © 1990 The American Physical Society.