Prediction of the thermal conductivity of gases based on the Rainwater-Friend theory and a new corresponding states function

The Rainwater-Friend theory is used for the evaluation of the initial density dependence of the thermal conductivity of the noble gases using accurate realistic potentials. This theory, which was originally developed for spherically symmetric potentials, is adapted for the calculation of the initial density dependence of the translational contribution of the thermal conductivity of polyatomic gases. The internal state contribution is evaluated using a combination of Mason-Monchick theory and hard-sphere Enskog theory. At high density, beyond the range of the Rainwater-Friend theory, a deviation thermal conductivity function has been presented. With the help of this function, an easily usable corresponding-states function for the calculation of the thermal conductivity of supercritical gases has been developed, which is valid over a wide temperature range and for pressures up to 400 MPa. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.