Computational aspects of equations of state: Fact and fiction

A detailed study has been made of the computing times for several common equations of state used by industry. The cubic equations are approximately equivalent to more complicated equations (e.g., perturbed hard chain and BWRS) for systems with eight or more components. Thus, it is not justified to choose cubic equations over other forms purely on the basis of computational advantage. Further, the study identifies mixing-rule summations as the dominant consumer of computing time.