Chemical Engineering 141 Spring 2014

Homework 2 Due Friday, February 14

Please turn in your solution to each problem (except problem 1 and 2) on separate sheets of
paper. Please put problem 1 and 2 together on the same sheet. Show all work.
Problem 1


Problem 2
The higher heating value (HHV) of a fuel is its standard heat of combustion at 25C with liquid
water as a product; the lower heating value (LHV) is for water vapor as a product.
a) Explain why these terms will give different heats of combustion (why is one the higher
heating value?).
b) Determine the HHV and the LHV for natural gas, modeled as pure methane.
c) Determine the HHV and LHV for a home heating oil, modeled as pure liquid n-decane.
For n-decane as a liquid E
]298

= -249,7uu [ mol
-1


Problem 3
Given that the vapor pressure of isobutane at 110C is 24.01 bar, find the molar volumes of (a)
saturated-vapor and (b) saturated liquid at these conditions as given by the Redlich/Kwong
equation. Compare your results with values obtained from the Lee/Kesler and Rackett
correlations.
See Textbook Table B.1 in Appendix B for characteristic properties of isobutane. Lee/Kesler
correlation tables may be found in Appendix E.

Problem 4
A natural-gas fuel contains 85 mol-% methane, 10 mol-% ethane, and 5 mol-% nitrogen.
a) What is the standard heat of combustion (kJ mol
-1
) of the fuel at 25C with H
2
O(g) as a
product?
b) The fuel is supplied to a furnace with 50% excess air, both entering at 25C. The products
leave at 600C. If combustion is complete and if no side reactions occur, how much heat
(kJ mol
-1
of fuel) is transferred in the furnace?