Picture Name: Janette Mendez-Santiago
e-mail: gt4935b@prism.gatech.edu
Areas: Critical Phenomena, Phase Equilibria, Supercritical Fluids, and Thermophysical Properties

Research Summary:

This project focuses on the determination of critical properties of dilute mixtures, as well as the prediction of mixture properties based on those measurements. The critical points are determined using a sealed ampoule method and a flow method. From the slopes of the critical lines, the Krichevskii parameters can be obtained. The Krichevskii parameter represents the change of pressure with addition of solute to the solvent at its critical point. It can be utilized to predict properties of the dilute mixture such as partial molar properties, infinite dilution partition coefficient and Henry's constant. Furthermore, the theory of dilute solutions suggests that the solubility of solids in supercritical fluids is dominated by the Krichevskii parameters. This theory provides an alternative method for the correlation and prediction of solubility of solids in supercritical fluids. Since there are very little systems in which both solubility and critical point data is available, the theory is modest at this point. One goal of this research is to verify this theory by measuring the critical points of mixtures and compare the Krichevskii parameters obtained from critical point data to the Krichevskii parameters obtained form solubility data. Solubility enhancement of solids in supercritical fluids in the presence of another solid can also be related to the Krichevskii parameters.

Bio Sketch:

Janette Mendez-Santiago was born on December 18, 1969 in San Juan, Puerto Rico. She obtained a bachelor degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of Puerto Rico in 1992. After finishing her undergraduate work, she moved to Atlanta, GA, where she worked for the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for two years. On March 1994, she was awarded with a fellowship from the National Science Foundation to pursue graduate studies. On September 1994, she started her graduate work at Georgia Institute of Technology, School of Chemical Engineering, where she is currently working under the direction of Dr. Amyn S. Teja. Her research work involves the prediction of properties of dilute solutions from critical point measurements.

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