Applications of the SW96 formulation in the thermodynamic calculation of fluid inclusions and mineral-fluid equilibria

The SW96 formulation explicit in Helmholtz free energy proposed by Span and Wagner (1996) is the most accurate multifunction equation of state of CO₂ fluid, from which all thermodynamic properties can be obtained over a wide temperature-pressure range from 216.592 to 1100 K and from 0 to 8000 bar with or close to experimental accuracy. This paper reports the applications of the SW96 formulation in fluid inclusions and mineral-fluid equilibria. A reliable and highly efficient algorithm is presented for the saturated properties of CO₂ so that the formulation can be conveniently applied in the study of fluid inclusions, such as calculation of homogenization pressures, homogenization densities (or molar volumes), volume fractions of vapor phase and isochores. Meanwhile, the univariant curves of some typical decarbonation reactions of minerals are calculated with the SW96 formulation and relevant thermodynamic models of minerals. The computer code of the SW96 formulation can be obtained from the corresponding author.