SCHOOL OF CHEMICAL ENGINEERING &

ADVANCED MATERIALS

ASSESSMENT COVER SHEET

Student ID: *Required A1736508
Student Name: *Required The Nhut Nguyen
Calender No. CHEM ENG 2017 / 7027
Course Transport Processes in the Environment
Lecturer/Tutor Steve Amos/ Sylvia Edifor
OFFICE USE ONLY
Date Received
04/05/2021

* REQUIRED

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Question 1

Assume the ppm based on mass unit.

H2S concentration in water sample

C = 3.8 μg/L = 3.8 ppm

C= H × P

𝐶 3.8
H=𝑃= = 3.8 ppm/atm
1

Air-water partition coefficient

𝐶 100
Kpc = 𝐶𝑎 = = 26.315
𝑤 3.8

Question 3

An equimolar liquid mixture of benzene and toluene then nb = nt

Molar fraction in liquid phase of each element:

𝑛𝑏 0.5
xb = 𝑛 = 0.5+0.5 = 0.5
𝑏 +𝑛𝑡

xt = 1- 0.5 = 0.5

Pb = xb × Pbsat = 0.5 × 119 = 59.5 mmHg

Pt = xt × Ptsat = 0.5 × 36.7 = 18.35 mmHg

Total pressure then

P = Pb + Pt = 59.5+ 18.35 = 77.85 mmHg = 0.102 atm

Equilibrium composition of the vapour

𝑃𝑏 59.5
yb = = = 0.764
𝑃 77.85

𝑃𝑡 18.35
yt = = = 0.236
𝑃 77.85

Pressure in the canister is 0.102 atm which is very small compared to atmospheric pressure (1 atm)
or atmospheric pressure is ten time compared to Pressure in the canister
Question 4

𝐶𝐴𝑆 𝑃𝑣 1
KAW = 𝑆 = 𝑆 ×
𝐶𝑊 𝐶𝑊 𝑅𝑇

𝑃𝑣
H= 𝑆
𝐶𝑊

Benzene:

𝑃𝑣 101325 𝑃𝑎 𝑚3 78𝑔
H= 𝑆 = 0.125𝑎𝑡𝑚 × × × = 555.01 Pa m3 mol-1
𝐶𝑊 𝑎𝑡𝑚 1780𝑔 𝑚𝑜𝑙

1 𝑃𝑎 𝑚3 1 𝑚𝑜𝑙 𝐾 1
KAW = 𝐻 × 𝑅 𝑇 =555.01 × 8.314 𝑃𝑎 𝑚3 × 298𝐾 = 0.224 mol/mol
𝑚𝑜𝑙

Assume M g benzene and total volume V (m3)

Mass of benzene in 90% air and 10% water then

Mair = 𝐶𝐴𝑆 × 0.9 ×V × MW

𝑆
Mwater = 𝐶𝑊 × 0.1 ×V × MW

𝑀𝑎𝑖𝑟 𝐶𝐴𝑆 × 0.9 ×V × MW

= 𝑆 × 0.1 ×V × MW = KAW×9 = 0.224 ×9 = 2.016
𝑀𝑤𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝐶𝑊

The calculated distribution ( ratio of Mair and Mwater to M) then

𝑀𝑎𝑖𝑟 1 1
% Mair= × 100 = 𝑀 × 100 = 1 × 100 = 66.84 %
𝑀𝑎𝑖𝑟 +𝑀𝑤𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑟 1+ 𝑤𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑟 1+
2.016
𝑀𝑎𝑖𝑟

% Mwater = 100- % Mair = 100 – 66.84 = 33.16%

Summary of distribution of all element between each phase in a closed system is presented below:

% m in
% mass ratio % m in air
water
Benzene 66.84 33.16
Trichloroethylene 20.95 79.05
Chlorobenzene 12.31 87.69
Napthalene 13.83 86.17
Aroclor 1254 17.45 82.55
DDT 0.51 99.49
+ Note that a significant fraction of each compound except Benzene is present in the water phase.

+ Trichloroethylene and Aroclor 1254 have a similar distribution between air and water phase even
the vapour pressures differing by more than orders of magnitude. The same trend occurs with
Chlorobenzene and Napthalene

+ The low solubility of Aroclor 1254 in water contributes to a surprising in the air phase

Question 5

Assume CT, CW, CB, CS (g/m3) are respectively Mercury concentration in total volume, water, biota
and sediment volume.

Mass balance

Mass = CT × VT = CW × VW + CB × VB + CS × VS

VT = VW +VB + VS = 105 + 2×103 m3

CT × VT = 1 kg = 1000g

log KOW = 2.59

KOW = 102.59

As fish said to be 4.8% lipids then

𝐶𝐵
KBW= = 0.05 KOW = 0.048 ×102.59
𝐶𝑤

Sediment is considered as carbon organic and from the lecture:

𝐶𝑆
KSW= = 0.63 KOW = 0.63 ×102.59
𝐶𝑤

CT × VT = CW × VW + CB × VB + CS × VS

CT × VT = CW × VW + KBW× CW× VB + KSW× CW× VS

1000 (g) = CW × 105 +0.048 ×102.59× CW× 103 + 0.63 ×102.59× CW× 103

1000
Then CW = = 0.0027 g/m3
105 +0.048×102.59 ×103 +0.63×102.59 ×103

Then CB = KBW × CW = 0.048 ×102.59 ×0.0027 = 0.05 g/m3

CS = KSW × CW = 0.63 ×102.59×0.0027 = 0.677 g/m3

Mass of Mercury in each phase:

mW = CW× VW = 0.0027× 105 = 271.99 g

mB = CB × VB = 0.05 × 103 = 50.79 g

mC = CS × VS = 0.677× 103 = 677.22 g

fraction of the total dimethyl mercury occurring in each then

𝑚𝑊 271.99
% mW = × 100 = × 100 = 27.20 %
𝑚 1000

𝑚𝐵 50.79
% mB = × 100 = × 100 = 5.08 %
𝑚 1000

% mC = 100 - % mW - % mB = 100 - 27.2 - 5.08 = 67.72%

Convert mass of dimethyl mercury in biota into ppm

𝑚𝑓𝑖𝑠ℎ (𝑚𝑔) 𝐶𝐵 ×𝑉𝐵 ×103 0.05 ×103 ×103

= = = 0.0338 ppm
𝑚𝐵 (𝑘𝑔) 𝑉𝐵 ×𝑝𝐵 103 ×1500

The current mass of methyl mercury in fish (biota) is 0.0338 which is larger than LD50 value (0.03
ppm). This means the current mass of methyl mercury will causes more than the death of 50% (one
half) of fish in this area.