Rod Bagley was co-inventor of the catalytic converter along with two other engin

Question

Rod Bagley was co-inventor of the catalytic converter along with two other engineers at Coming. The catalytic converter converts 95% of exhaust pollutants into more benign emissions vastly improving air quality. Upon learning that Rod Bagley is an alumnus from the MSE department at the University of Utah (BS 1960. PhD 1964) you feel inspired to make the world a better place and excitedly take a job at a new environmentally friendly company designing diesel engines. Your boss is convinced that increasing the combustion temperature from 1000K to 1500K will decrease the amount of NO formed (a harmful emission that can convert to NO_2 and other toxic compounds). You check the literature and find that for N_2 O_2 doubleheadarrow 2NO the Delta G degree for NO is 77.7 kJ/mol at 1000K and is 71.4 kJ/mol at 1500K. The partial pressure of nitrogen gas is 0.69 and that of molecular oxygen is 0.06 in the combustion gas (there is also 17% CO and 8% H_2O in the combustion gas but these do not enter the calculation). Calculate the equilibrium concentrations of NO at both temperatures, is your boss right?

Explanation / Answer

at 1000 K,

detaG= -RTlnK

lnK= -77.7*1000/(8.314*1000)=-9.3

K= 8.73*10-5

for the given equation, N2(g) +O2(g)----> 2NO (g)

K= 8.73*10-5 = [PNO]2/ [PN2] [PO2] = [PNO]2/ 0.69*0.06

[PNO]2= 8.73*10-5*0.69*0.06 =3.62*10-6

[PNO2] = 0.0019 atm

at 1500 K

K= exp(- deltaG/RT)= exp(-71.4*1000/1500*8.314) =0.003262

[PNO]2= 0.003262*0.69*0.06, [PNO] =0.011622 atm

boss is incorrect since there is an increase in partial pressure of NO at 1500K

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