Contributions to International Standards on the Properties of Water

Summary

Researchers in the Applied Chemicals and Materials Division play a leading role in the development of international standards for the properties of water. This work is performed under the auspices of the International Association for the Properties of Water and Steam (IAPWS). Recent contributions include the development of new reference formulations for the viscosity and thermal conductivity of water, a new standard formulation for the vapor pressure of ice, a new reference equation of state for the thermodynamic properties of heavy water, and simple but highly accurate correlations for thermodynamic properties, viscosity, thermal conductivity, and static dielectric constant of liquid water at atmospheric pressure.

Description

Cover of the ASME International Steam Tables for Industrial Use, Third Edition

Water is probably the most widely used industrial fluid and it is important to have internationally accepted standards for its properties. This information is crucial to the analysis and design of thermal power cycles, as well as for climate studies including the hydrosphere. (Here is a summary of the history through 2001 of water and steam property measurements for the power generation industry, featuring the contributions of NIST/NBS.) IAPWS is an international non-profit association of national organizations concerned with the properties of water and steam, particularly thermophysical properties and other aspects of high-temperature steam, water and aqueous mixtures that are relevant to thermal power cycles and other industrial applications. NIST researchers are active in the leadership and working groups of IAPWS and have led the development of several recent standards adopted by IAPWS.

Researchers developed new formulations for the viscosity and thermal conductivity of water that incorporate new data and extend the ranges of applicability of the formulations compared to the previous correlations from the 1980s.  These formulations are useful not only for applications where the viscosity and/or thermal conductivity of water and steam is needed directly (such as the steam power industry), but also for applications where these properties are used as a reference for calibrations, measurements, or correlations involving other fluids.  The formulations are available through the IAPWS website, and have also been incorporated into NIST Standard Reference Database 23, (REFPROP, Reference Fluid Thermodynamic and Transport Properties) and NIST Standard Reference Database 10 (NIST/ASME Steam Properties) distributed by the Standard Reference Data Program of NIST.  Properties from the new viscosity and thermal conductivity formulations have also been incorporated into a new Third Edition of the widely used ASME Steam Tables book.

Another IAPWS project, co-led by a NIST researcher, was for the benefit of those in science and industry who do not need the comprehensive, wide-ranging IAPWS formulations because their interest is only for liquid water at atmospheric pressure (for example, for calibration of instruments). Simple correlations as a function of temperature were developed for convenient calculation of thermodynamic properties, viscosity, thermal conductivity, and static dielectric constant. In the region of applicability, the uncertainties of these correlations are no greater than those of the underlying IAPWS formulations.

Additional IAPWS work included the development of a new standard formulation for the vapor pressure of ice, based on a comprehensive evaluation of available thermodynamic information. Also, a new reference equation of state was developed for the thermodynamic properties of heavy water, replacing the previous standard that was approximately 40 years old.

Associated Publications:

• S. Herrig, M. Thol, A.H. Harvey, and E.W. Lemmon, A Reference Equation of State for Heavy Water, J. Phys. Chem. Ref. Data 47, 043102 (2018). https://www.nist.gov/publications/reference-equation-state-heavy-water
• M.L. Huber, R.A. Perkins, A. Laesecke, D.G. Friend, J.V. Sengers, M.J. Assael, I.N. Metaxa, E. Vogel, R. Mareš, and K. Miyagawa, New International Formulation for the Viscosity of H₂O, J. Phys. Chem. Ref. Data 38, 101 (2009). https://www.nist.gov/node/618911
• M.L. Huber, R.A. Perkins, D.G. Friend, J.V. Sengers, M.J. Assael, I.N. Metaxa, K. Miyagawa, R. Hellmann, and E. Vogel, New International Formulation for the Thermal Conductivity of H₂O, J. Phys. Chem. Ref. Data 41, 033102 (2012). https://www.nist.gov/node/586746
• J. Hrubý, J. Pátek, J. Klomfar, M. Součková, and A.H. Harvey, Reference Correlations for Thermophysical Properties of Liquid Water at 0.1 MPa, J. Phys. Chem. Ref. Data 38, 21 (2009). https://www.nist.gov/node/563576
• W. Wagner, T. Riethmann, R. Feistel, and A.H. Harvey, New Equations for the Sublimation Pressure and Melting Pressure of H₂O Ice Ih J. Phys. Chem. Ref. Data 40, 043103 (2011). https://www.nist.gov/node/563571
• W.T. Parry, J.C. Bellows, J.S. Gallagher, A.H. Harvey, and R.D. Harwood, ASME International Steam Tables for Industrial Use, Third Edition (ASME Press, New York, 2014). https://www.nist.gov/node/790706

Major Accomplishments

• Release on the IAPWS Formulation 2008 for the Viscosity of Ordinary Water Substance
• Release on the IAPWS Formulation 2011 for the Thermal Conductivity of Ordinary Water Substance
• IAPWS Supplementary Release on Properties of Liquid Water at 0.1 MPa
• ASME International Steam Tables for Industrial Use, 3rd Ed.

• Revised Release on the IAPWS Formulation 2017 for the Thermodynamic Properties of Heavy Water

Associated Product(s)

• IAPWS R12-08: Release on the IAPWS Formulation 2008 for the Viscosity of Ordinary Water Substance, http://www.iapws.org/relguide/viscosity.html
• IAPWS R15-11: Release on the IAPWS Formulation 2011 for the Thermal Conductivity of Ordinary Water Substance, http://www.iapws.org/relguide/ThCond.html
• IAPWS SR6-08(2011): Revised Supplementary Release on Properties of Liquid Water at 0.1 MPa, http://www.iapws.org/relguide/LiquidWater.html
• IAPWS R14-08(2011): Revised Release on the Pressure along the Melting and Sublimation Curves of Ordinary Water Substance, http://www.iapws.org/relguide/MeltSub.html

• IAPWS R16-17(2018), Revised Release on the IAPWS Formulation 2017 for the Thermodynamic Properties of Heavy Water, http://www.iapws.org/relguide/Heavy.html

• NIST/ASME Steam Properties (NIST Standard Reference Database 10), Version 3.0, 2013, https://www.nist.gov/srd/nist-standard-reference-database-10
• NIST Reference Fluid Thermodynamic and Transport Properties Database (NIST Standard Reference Database 23, REFPROP), Version 9.1, 2013, https://www.nist.gov/srd/refprop

• Journal of Physical and Chemical Reference Data collection of articles on International Water Property Standards, https://aip.scitation.org/toc/jpr/collection/10.1063/jpr.2019.IWPS2019.issue-1