Exercise 1 - Gas Density Calculation.

The task is to reproduce the spreadsheet shown in the lecture and printed out below. This can be broken down into several stages. It is probably a good idea to work through the example in the manual before starting this exercise if you are not familiar with Excel. The purpose of your spreadsheet is to calculate the density of an ideal gas given its molecular weight for a range of temperatures at a given pressure. The user should be able to specify the molecular weight, the pressure in bar and the temperature range in C. Your Spreadsheet must have the following features: 1. A title in a font which is different from the rest of the sheet. 2. A short summary of the purpose of the spreadsheet and what it does. 3. An easily identifiable area where variables and constants are entered, as opposed to quantities that are calculated. This area should include anything you might want to change as well as any constants. 4. An area where calculated quantities are displayed.

Gas Density Calculation

The density of a gas is calculated using PV=nRT Density =Mn/V=MP/RT P is given, T varies between Tmin and Tmax Variables and Constants Pressure R Tmin Tmax Mol wt 1 bara 8.314 kJ/kmolK 800 C 1200 C 29 kg/kmol Temperature C Temperature K Density kg/m3 800 840 880 920 960 1000 1040 1080 1120 1160 1200 1073 1113 1153 1193 1233 1273 1313 1353 1393 1433 1473 0.325 0.313 0.303 0.292 0.283 0.274 0.266 0.258 0.250 0.243 0.237

Useful Information and hints. The ideal gas equation is PV = nRT where P is the absolute pressure, V is the gas volume, R is the gas constant, n is the number of moles present and T is the absolute temperature. We require the density of the gas, which can be calculated from the equation above. mass of material To do this we think about density , which is defined as . In order to volume occupied determine the mass of material present we need an additional piece of information; the molecular weight of the substance, we will call this M. The mass present is then Mn given by mass = Mn . The density is then = rearranging the ideal gas equation V n P Mn MP gives = , so = , the equation used in the spreadsheet. V RT V RT Stages in building up your spreadsheet: First put in the title, description and box of constants and variables. I think giving the constants and variables names helps in composing the formulae. Think about units! What units do you need in the equation to make it consistent? Calculate the density at one temperature first then think about how to get the range of temperatures. Think about how you would go about getting 11 (Tmin, Tmax and 9 intermediate temperatures) evenly spaced temperatures manually, then think about how to do this automatically. For this exercise you should print out 2 copies of your spreadsheet, one similar to the one on the previous page and one showing the formulae you have used. The second is produced by selecting Options on the Tools menu then on the View menu select formulas in the Window option section. This exercise is not assessed, but you are advised to show the two copies to me so that comments can be given on layout and functionality of the spreadsheet.

Based on a document produced by Dr J M Skilling Dr John Christy 28th January 2000