GMR Institute of Technology

Rajam, Andhra Pradesh

(An Autonomous Institution Affiliated to JNTUK, AP)

Department of Chemical Engineering

rd
Class 3 Sem. - B. Tech. (Chemical Engineering)
Course Chemical Process Calculations Course Code CHEM-2403
Prepared by Mr. P. Satya Sagar, Sr. Assistant Professor
Lecture Topic Methods of expressing compositions of gas mixtures
Course Outcome CCHEM203.1 Program Outcome PO1,PO13
Duration 50 min Lecture 2 of 45 Unit I
REMEMBER UNDERSTAND APPLY ANALYSE EVALUATE CREATE
Learning Level
(Tick whichever is applicable)

1. Objectives
To learn Methods of expressing compositions of gas mixtures
2. Topic Learning Outcomes
After the completion of the class the students will able to:
a. Calculate composition of gas mixture in different methods and able
b. Calculate molar volume of component in mixture
c. Convert volume percent to mole percent and weight percent vice versa
3. Teaching Methodology
a. Chalk & Talk
4. Applications
1. Combustion calculations 2. Fertilizer industry 3.Petrochemical
industry
5. Evocation

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 6. Discussion

Standard Conditions
1 atm. pressure or 760 mm Hg or 29.92 inches of Hg and 0 C or 32 F By Avogadros
Hypothesis, 1 g mole of any gas under standard conditions will occupy 22.414 litres 1 lb mole of
any gas under standard conditions will occupy 359 cu.ft.
T(K) = T C + 273.16
T(R) = T F + 459.69
Ideal Gas Law
The ideal gas law states that,
PV = nRT
P = Pressure of gas

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 V = Volume of n moles of gas
n = Number of moles of gas
R = Gas constant
T = Absolute temperature
Using the ideal gas law (PV = nRT) and the above information one can always determine the
weight of a gas if the volume is known and vice-versa.
The molar volume of a gas
You will recall that the molar mass of a pure substance is the mass of 6.02 x 1023 (Avogadro's
number) of particles or molecular units of that substance. Molar masses are commonly expressed
in units of grams per mole (g mol1) and are often referred to as molecular weights.
As was explained in the preceding lesson, equal volumes of gases, measured at the same
temperature and pressure, contain equal numbers of molecules Standard temperature and
pressure: 273K, 1 atm
The magnitude of this volume will of course
depend on the temperature and pressure, so as
a means of convenient comparison it is
customary to define a set of conditions
T = 273K and P = 1 atm as standard
temperature and pressure, usually denoted
as STP. Substituting these values into the ideal
gas equation of state and solving for V yields a
volume of 22.414 liters for 1 mole.
Example 1
What would the volume of one mole of air be
at 20C on top of Mauna Kea, Haw'aii (altitude
4.2 km; click on picture for enlarged view) where the air pressure is approximately 60 kPa?
SOLUTION
Apply Boyle's and Charles' laws as successive correction factors to the standard sea-level
pressure of 101.3 kPa:

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The standard molar volume 22.4 L mol1 is a value worth memorizing, but remember that it is
valid only at STP. The molar volume at other temperatures and pressures can easily be found by
simple proportion. The molar volume of a substance can tell us something about how much
space each molecule occupies, as the following example shows.
Example 2
Estimate the average distance between the molecules in a gas at 1 atm pressure and 0C.
SOLUTION
Consider a 1-cm3 volume of the gas, which will contain 6.021023mol1, 22,400cm3 mol1
=2.691019cm3 , 6.021023mol1, 22,400cm3 mol1 = 2.691019cm3
The volume per molecule (not the same as the volume of a molecule, which for an ideal gas is
zero!) is just the reciprocal of this, or 3.72E 20 cm3. Assume that the molecules are evenly
distributed so that each occupies an imaginary box having this volume. The average distance
between the centers of the molecules will be defined by the length of this box, which is the cube
root of the volume per molecule:
(3.72 1020)1/3 = 3.38 107 cm = 3.4 nm
Molar mass and density of a gas
The molecular weight (molar mass) of any gas is the mass, expressed in grams, of Avogadro's
number of its molecules. This is true regardless of whether the gas is composed of one molecular
species or is a mixture. For a mixture of gases, the molar mass will depend on the molar masses
of its components, and on the fractional abundance of each kind of molecule in the mixture. The
term "average molecular weight" is often used to describe the molar mass of a gas mixture.
Average molecular weight
The average molar mass of a mixture of gases is just the sum of the
mole fractions of each gas, multiplied by the molar mass of that
substance:

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Expressing the composition of a gas mixture
Because most of the volume occupied by a gas consists of empty space, there is nothing to
prevent two or more kinds of gases from occupying the same volume. Homogeneous mixtures of
this kind are generally known as solutions, but it is customary to refer to them simply as gaseous
mixtures. We can specify the composition of gaseous mixtures in many different ways, but the
most common ones are by volumes and by mole fractions.
Volume fractions
From Avogadro's Law we know that "equal volumes contains equal numbers of molecules". This
means that the volumes of gases, unlike those of solids and liquids, are additive. So if a
partitioned container has two volumes of gas A in one section and one mole of gas B in the other
(both at the same temperature and pressure), and we remove the partition, the volume remains
unchanged.
We can specify the composition of this mixture by saying that the volume fraction of A is 1/3
and that of B is 2/3.
Volume fractions are often called partial volumes:

Don't let this type of notation put you off! The summation sign (Greek Sigma) simply means to
add up the v's (volumes) of every gas. Thus if Gas A is the "i-th" substance as in the expression
immediately above, the summation runs from i=1 through i=2. Note that we can employ partial
volumes to specify the composition of a mixture even if it had never actually been made by
combining the pure gases.
When we say that air, for example, is 21 percent oxygen and 78 percent nitrogen by volume, this
is the same as saying that these same percentages of the molecules in air consist of O2 and N2.
Similarly, in 1.0 mole of air, there is 0.21 mol of O 2 and 0.78 mol of N2 (the other 0.1 mole
consists of various trace gases, but is mostly neon.) Note that you could never assume a similar
equivalence with mixtures of liquids or solids, to which the E.V.E.N. principle does not apply.
Mole fractions
These last two numbers (0.21 and 0.78) also express the mole fractions of oxygen and nitrogen in
air. Mole fraction means exactly what it says: the fraction of the molecules that consist of a
specific substance. This is expressed algebraically by

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Note: ,
Partial Pressure (PP) The partial pressure of a component gas that is present in a mixture of
gases is the pressure that would be exerted by that component gas if it alone were present in the
same volume and at the same temperature as the mixture.
Pure Component Volume (PCV) The PCV of a component gas that is present in a mixture of
gases is the volume that would be occupied by that component gas if it alone were present at the
same pressure and temperature as the mixture.
Dalton's law of partial pressures The ideal gas equation of state applies to mixtures just as to
pure gases. It was in fact with a gas mixture, ordinary air, that Boyle, Gay-Lussac and Charles
did their early experiments. The only new concept we need in order to deal with gas mixtures is
the partial pressure, a concept invented by the famous English chemist John Dalton (1766-1844).
Dalton reasoned that the low density and high compressibility of gases indicates that they consist
mostly of empty space; from this it follows that when two or more different gases occupy the
same volume, they behave entirely independently.
The contribution that each component of a gaseous mixture makes to the total pressure of the gas
is known as the partial pressure of that gas. Dalton himself stated this law in the simple and
vivid way shown at the left.
The usual way of stating Dalton's Law of Partial Pressures is
The total pressure of a gas is the sum of the partial pressures of its components
which is expressed algebraically as
There is also a similar relationship based on volume fractions, known as Amagat's law of partial
volumes. It is exactly analogous to Dalton's law, in that it states that the total volume of a mixture
is just the sum of the partial volumes of its components. But there are two important differences:
Amagat's law holds only for ideal gases which must all be at the same temperature and pressure.
Dalton's law has neither of these restrictions. Although Amagat's law seems intuitively obvious,
it sometimes proves useful in chemical engineering applications. We will make no use of it in
this course.

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7.Mind Map:

8. Readings:

1. Hougen, Olaf A., and Kenneth M. Watson. "Chemical Process Principles-Part 1: Material
and Energy Blances." (1948).
2. Himmelblau, David Mautner, and James B. Riggs. Basic principles and calculations in
chemical engineering. FT Press, 2012.
3. Bhatt, B. I., and S. M. Vora. Stoichiometry:(si units). Tata McGraw-Hill Pub. Co., 1996.
4. http://chemwiki.ucdavis.edu/Textbook_Maps/General_Chemistry_Textbook_Maps/Map
%3A_Chem1_(Lower)/06._Properties_of_Gases/6.3%3A_Dalton's_Law
9. Questions:

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Remember:
1) State the fallowing laws ; Amagats law , Daltons law,
2) Define the fallowing : Partial pressure , Molar volume , Mole fraction, Pure component
volume
Understand:
1) Derive the expression for mole fraction of single compound from Daltons law of partial
pressures
2) Write short notes on standard conditions.
Apply:
1) A natural gas has the following composition, all gures being in volumetric per cent:
Methane CH4 83.5, Ethane C2H6 12.5, Nitrogen N2 4.0. Calculate composition in mole
percent and weight percent, average molecular weight.
10. Key Words:
Mole fraction
Partial pressure
Molar volume
Mole fraction
Pure component volume
Amagats law
Daltons law

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