Natural gas is very abundant in many Middle Eastern oilfields. However, the costs of shipping the gas to markets inother parts of the world are high because it is necessary toliquefy the gas, which is mainly methane and has a boilingpoint at atmospheric pressure of -164 °C. One possiblestrategy is to oxidize the methane to methanol, CH3OH,which has a boiling point of 65 °C and can therefore beshipped more readily. Suppose that 10.7 x 109 ft3 of methaneat atmospheric pressure and 25 °C is oxidized to methanol.(a) What volume of methanol is formed if the densityof CH3OH is 0.791 g/mL? (b) Write balanced chemicalequations for the oxidations of methane and methanol toCO2(g) and H2O(l). Calculate the total enthalpy changefor complete combustion of the 10.7 x 109 ft3 of methane just described and for complete combustion of the equivalentamount of methanol, as calculated in part (a).(c) Methane, when liquefied, has a density of 0.466 g/mL;the density of methanol at 25 °C is 0.791 g/mL. Comparethe enthalpy change upon combustion of a unit volume ofliquid methane and liquid methanol. From the standpointof energy production, which substance has the higher enthalpyof combustion per unit volume?
Thermochemistry
Thermochemistry can be considered as a branch of thermodynamics that deals with the connections between warmth, work, and various types of energy, formed because of different synthetic and actual cycles. Thermochemistry describes the energy changes that occur as a result of reactions or chemical changes in a substance.
Exergonic Reaction
The term exergonic is derived from the Greek word in which ‘ergon’ means work and exergonic means ‘work outside’. Exergonic reactions releases work energy. Exergonic reactions are different from exothermic reactions, the one that releases only heat energy during the course of the reaction. So, exothermic reaction is one type of exergonic reaction. Exergonic reaction releases work energy in different forms like heat, light or sound. For example, a glow stick releases light making that an exergonic reaction and not an exothermic reaction since no heat is released. Even endothermic reactions at very high temperature are exergonic.
Natural gas is very abundant in many Middle Eastern oil
fields. However, the costs of shipping the gas to markets in
other parts of the world are high because it is necessary to
liquefy the gas, which is mainly methane and has a boiling
point at atmospheric pressure of -164 °C. One possible
strategy is to oxidize the methane to methanol, CH3OH,
which has a boiling point of 65 °C and can therefore be
shipped more readily. Suppose that 10.7 x 109 ft3 of methane
at atmospheric pressure and 25 °C is oxidized to methanol.
(a) What volume of methanol is formed if the density
of CH3OH is 0.791 g/mL? (b) Write balanced chemical
equations for the oxidations of methane and methanol to
CO2(g) and H2O(l). Calculate the total enthalpy change
for complete combustion of the 10.7 x 109 ft3 of methane just described and for complete combustion of the equivalent
amount of methanol, as calculated in part (a).
(c) Methane, when liquefied, has a density of 0.466 g/mL;
the density of methanol at 25 °C is 0.791 g/mL. Compare
the enthalpy change upon combustion of a unit volume of
liquid methane and liquid methanol. From the standpoint
of energy production, which substance has the higher enthalpy
of combustion per unit volume?
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