SOLUBILITY OF HYDROCARBONS IN SEAWATER

Concern about pollution of the oceans has stimulated mea-

surements of the solubility of organic compounds in seawater.

This table gives the solubility of several hydrocarbons in seawa-

ter. The data are derived from a review in the IUPAC Solubility

Data Series (Reference 1).

Solubility is expressed in this table as parts per million by

mass, i.e.,

S/ppm(mass) = 10

6

× w

2

= 10

6

× m

2

/(m

1

+ m

2

)

where m

1

and

m

2

are the masses of solvent (seawater) and sol-

ute, respectively, under saturation conditions, and w

2

is the mass

fraction. Since the solubilities in this table are very low, the value

of S is effectively the mass of hydrocarbon in grams per 1000 kg

of seawater.

The temperature and salinity of each measurement are given in

the table. Salinity is a standardized measure of the concentration

of dissolved salts, as explained in the table “Properties of Seawater”

in Section 14. Salinity values in the open oceans at mid-latitude

typically fall between 34 and 36.

Reference 1 gives details of the method of measurement and an

indication of the reliability of the measurements.

Reference

1. Shaw, David G., and Maczynski, A., IUPAC-NIST Solubility Data

Series 81. Hydrocarbons with Water and Seawater — Revised and

Updated. Part 12. C

5

-C

26

Hydrocarbons with Seawater, J. Phys. Chem.

Ref. Data 35, 785, 2006.

Name

Mol. Form. Salinity t/°C

S/ppm (mass)

Acenaphthene

C

12

H

10

35

15

0.21

Acenaphthene

C

12

H

10

35

25

1.8

Anthracene

C

14

H

10

35

25

0.031

Benz[a]anthracene

C

18

H

12

35

25

0.0056

Benzene

C

6

H

6

34.4

0

1320

Benzene

C

6

H

6

35

25

1360

Benzo[ghi]perylene

C

22

H

12

6

25

0.00021

Benzo[a]pyrene

C

20

H

12

6

25

0.00013

Benzo[e]pyrene

C

20

H

12

30

25

0.0033

Benzo[b]triphenylene

C

22

H

14

6

25

0.027

Biphenyl

C

12

H

10

35

25

4.76

Butylbenzene

C

10

H

14

34.5

25

7.1

sec-Butylbenzene

C

10

H

14

34.5

25

12

tert-Butylbenzene

C

10

H

14

34.5

25

21

Chrysene

C

18

H

12

35

25

0.0011

Dibenz[a,h]anthracene C

22

H

14

6

25

0.021

Dibenz[a,j]anthracene

C

22

H

14

6

25

0.010

Dodecane

C

12

H

26

35

25

0.0029

Eicosane

C

20

H

42

35

25

0.0008

Ethylbenzene

C

8

H

10

34.4

0

140

Ethylbenzene

C

8

H

10

34.4

10

129

Ethylbenzene

C

8

H

10

34.4

25

111

Fluoranthene

C

16

H

10

35

25

0.124

9H-Fluorene

C

13

H

10

35

25

1.2

Heptane

C

7

H

16

6

25

10.3

Hexacosane

C

26

H

54

35

25

0.0001

Hexadecane

C

16

H

34

35

25

0.0004

Hexane

C

6

H

14

35.3

25

7.9

Isopropylbenzene

C

9

H

12

34.5

25

43

2-Methylanthracene

C

15

H

12

35

25

0.013

Methylcyclopentane

C

6

H

12

34.5

25

29

1-Methylnaphthalene

C

11

H

10

30

25

23

1-Methylphenanthrene C

15

H

12

35

25

0.20

Naphthalene

C

10

H

8

35

25

22.8

Nonane

C

9

H

20

6

25

0.43

Octadecane

C

18

H

38

35

25

0.0008

Pentane

C

5

H

12

34.5

25

28

Phenanthrene

C

14

H

10

34

25

0.69

8-126

Name

Mol. Form. Salinity t/°C

S/ppm (mass)

Pyrene

C

16

H

10

35

25

0.086

Tetradecane

C

14

H

30

35

25

0.0017

Toluene

C

7

H

8

34.4

0

450

Toluene

C

7

H

8

35

25

387

1,2,3-Trimethylbenzene C

9

H

12

34.5

25

49

1,2,4-Trimethylbenzene C

9

H

12

34.5

25

40

1,3,5-Trimethylbenzene C

9

H

12

34.5

25

31

Undecane

C

11

H

24

6

25

0.01

o-Xylene

C

8

H

10

34.5

25

130

m-Xylene

C

8

H

10

34.5

25

106

p-Xylene

C

8

H

10

34.5

25

111

Solubility of Hydrocarbons in Seawater

8-127