A dual extremum principle in thermodynamics

• Published in: AIChE journal Vol. 53; no. 8; pp. 2131 - 2147
• Main Authors: Mitsos, Alexander, Barton, Paul I.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Hoboken Wiley Subscription Services, Inc., A Wiley Company 01.08.2007; Wiley Subscription Services; American Institute of Chemical Engineers
• Subjects: Applied sciences; Chemical engineering; duality; Energy; Exact sciences and technology; extremum principle; Gibbs tangent plane; Lagrangian; Material balance; phase equilibrium; Thermodynamics; Gibbs free energy; Lagrangian; Multicomponent mixture; Activity coefficient; Gibbs tangent plane; Stability criterion; Thermodynamic properties; Phase equilibrium; Modeling; duality; Material balance; extremum principle

Phase equilibria of multicomponent mixtures are considered and a reinterpretation of the Gibbs tangent plane stability criterion is proposed via Lagrangian duality. The starting point is the natural primal problem of minimizing the Gibbs free energy subject to material balance. The stable phase spli...