The solubility of bismuth in water vapor at 220 °C and 21 bars

摘要

The solubility of bismuth in water vapor, with an oxygen fugacity fixed by the bismuth/bismite buffer, was evaluated at 220 °C and 21 bars. The solubility was determined to be invariant with time from 10to 21 days, suggesting that equilibrium was attained within 10 days. The results of these experiments showed that the solubility of bismuth at the conditions of the experiment is approximately 2 ppm, which is roughly nine orders of magnitude higher than concentrations calculated from thermodynamic data, assuming no interaction between the Bi species and water molecules. The relatively high solubilities of bismuth in water vapor suggest that the transport of bismuth in vapor may play a much larger role than previously thought.