As described in Problem P17D.5, reaction with the hydroxyl radical OH is the main path by which CH4 is removed from the lower atmosphere. T. Gierczak et al. (J. Phys. Chem. A 101, 3125 (1997)) measured the rate constants for the bimolecular gas-phase reaction CH4 + OH → CH3 + H2O and found A = 1.13 × 109 dm3 mol−1 s−1 and Ea = 14.1 kJ mol−1 for the Arrhenius parameters. (a) Estimate the rate of consumption of CH4 under the following conditions: take the average OH concentration to be 3.5 × 10−15 mol dm−3, that of CH4 to be 40 nmol dm−3, and the temperature to be −10 °C. (b) Estimate the global annual mass of CH4 consumed by this reaction (which is slightly less than the mass introduced to the atmosphere) given an effective volume for the Earth’s lower atmosphere of 4 × 1021 dm3.
As described in Problem P17D.5, reaction with the hydroxyl radical OH is the main path by which CH4 is removed from the lower atmosphere. T. Gierczak et al. (J. Phys. Chem. A 101, 3125 (1997)) measured the rate constants for the bimolecular gas-phase reaction CH4 + OH → CH3 + H2O and found A = 1.13 × 109 dm3 mol−1 s−1 and Ea = 14.1 kJ mol−1 for the Arrhenius parameters. (a) Estimate the rate of consumption of CH4 under the following conditions: take the average OH concentration to be 3.5 × 10−15 mol dm−3, that of CH4 to be 40 nmol dm−3, and the temperature to be −10 °C. (b) Estimate the global annual mass of CH4 consumed by this reaction (which is slightly less than the mass introduced to the atmosphere) given an effective volume for the Earth’s lower atmosphere of 4 × 1021 dm3.
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