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In thermodynamics, the compressibility factor (Z), also known as the compression factor or the gas deviation factor, describes the deviation of a real gas from ideal gas behaviour. It is simply defined as the ratio of the molar volume of a gas to the molar volume of an ideal gas at the same temperature and pressure .
Real gases are non-ideal gases whose molecules occupy space and have interactions; consequently, they do not adhere to the ideal gas law. To understand the behaviour of real gases, the following must be taken into account: compressibility effects; variable specific heat capacity; van der Waals forces; non-equilibrium thermodynamic effects;
Z can, in general, be either greater or less than unity for a real gas. The deviation from ideal gas behavior tends to become particularly significant (or, equivalently, the compressibility factor strays far from unity) near the critical point, or in the case of high pressure or low temperature.
Figure 7: Generalized compressibility chart for a van der Waals gas. Real gases are characterized by their difference from ideal by writing =. Here , called the compressibility factor, is expressed either as (,) or (,). In either case
According to van der Waals, the theorem of corresponding states (or principle/law of corresponding states) indicates that all fluids, when compared at the same reduced temperature and reduced pressure, have approximately the same compressibility factor and all deviate from ideal gas behavior to about the same degree. [1] [2]
For an ideal gas, the ideal gas law applies without restrictions on the specific heat. An ideal gas is a simplified "real gas" with the assumption that the compressibility factor Z is set to 1 meaning that this pneumatic ratio remains constant. A compressibility factor of one also requires the four state variables to follow the ideal gas law.
As improvements in technology permitted higher pressures and lower temperatures, deviations from the ideal gas behavior became noticeable, and the relationship between pressure and volume can only be accurately described employing real gas theory. [14] The deviation is expressed as the compressibility factor.
The compressibility factor is a dimensionless quantity which is equal to 1 for ideal gases and deviates from unity for increasing levels of non-ideality. [ 9 ] Several non-ideal models exist, from the simplest cubic equations of state (such as the Van der Waals [ 4 ] [ 10 ] and the Peng-Robinson [ 11 ] models) up to complex multi-parameter ones ...