A study was conducted to measure the volubility of CO2 in water. The objective was to examine the effect of various experimental parameters on the CO2 solubility. The results confirmed that water vapour pressure must be considered when determining the dissolved CO2 concentration at elevated temperatures (>30°C). The gas-sparging rate has no effect
on the steady state CO2 solubility as long as the sparging time exceeds 1 hour. Indeed, the steady state concentration was established within the first 30 minutes of sparging at a rate of 100 mL/min. The evolution rate of dissolved CO2 was found to be considerably lower than the dissolution rate of CO2 gas. Although the solubility of CO2 measured at 80°C agreed reasonably well with the literature, the value obtained at room temperature was significantly lower. The steady state concentration of CO2 ranges from 265 to 320 ppm at 80°C and 1 bar total pressure, as compared to the calculated literature value of 307 ppm. Conversely, the concentration measured at 20°C (1125 – 1400 ppm) was significantly lower than the literature value (1720 ppm). Several measurement methods were attempted in order to resolve the difference; however, the results were consistently lower than those previously reported in the literature. The explanation to the discrepancy is yet to be identified.
Keywords: carbon dioxide, solubility, Henry’s constant, sweet corrosion