cen84959_ch16.

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EXAMPLE 163

Equilibrium Composition
at a Specified Temperature

A mixture of 2 kmol of CO and 3 kmol of O2 is heated to 2600 K at a pressure of 304 kPa. Determine the equilibrium composition, assuming the mixture consists of CO2, CO, and O2 (Fig. 1612).

Solution A reactive gas mixture is heated to a high temperature. The equilibrium composition at that temperature is to be determined.

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Assumptions 1 The equilibrium composition consists of CO2, CO, and O2.

2 The constituents of the mixture are ideal gases.
Analysis The stoichiometric and actual reactions in this case are as follows:

Stoichiometric:
Actual:

CO  12 O2

1thus nCO2  1, nCO  1, and nO2  12 2

CO2

2CO  3O2 xCO2  yCO  zO2

123

1552553

products

reactants
(leftover)

or y  2  x

C balance:

2xy

O balance:

8  2x  y  2zor z  3 

Total number of moles:

x
2

N total  x  y  z  5 

x
2

P  304 kPa  3.0 atm

Pressure:

The closest reaction listed in Table A28 is CO2 CO  12 O2, for which
ln KP  2.801 at 2600 K. The reaction we have is the inverse of this, and
thus ln KP  2.801, or KP  16.461 in our case.
Assuming ideal-gas behavior for all components, the equilibrium constant
relation (Eq. 1615) becomes
CO
N nCO
2
2

KP 

CO
N nCO
N nOO22

P nCO nCOnO
b
N total
2

Substituting, we get

16.461 

1>2
3
x
b
a
1>2
5  x>2
12  x2 13  x>2 2

Solving for x yields

x  1.906
Then

y  2  x  0.094
z3

x
 2.047
2

Therefore, the equilibrium composition of the mixture at 2600 K and 304

kPa is

1.906CO2  0.094CO  2.074O2

Discussion In solving this problem, we disregarded the dissociation of O2
into O according to the reaction O2 2O, which is a real possibility at high
temperatures. This is because ln KP  7.521 at 2600 K for this reaction,
which indicates that the amount of O2 that dissociates into O is negligible.
(Besides, we have not learned how to deal with simultaneous reactions yet.
We will do so in the next section.)