Chapter 6, Problem 6.159QP

The carbon dioxide exhaled in the breath of astronauts is often removed from the spacecraft by reaction with lithium hydroxide

$2\text{LiOH}(s)+{\text{CO}}_2(g)\to {\text{Li}}_2{\text{CO}}_3(s)+{\text{H}}_2\text{O}(l)$

Estimate the grams of lithium hydroxide required per astronaut per day. Assume that each astronaut requires 2.50 × 10³ kcal of energy per day. Further assume that this energy can be equated to the heat of combustion of a quantity of glucose, C₆H₁₂O₆, to CO₂(g) and H₂O(l). From the amount of glucose required to give 2.50 × 10³ kcal of heat, calculate the amount of CO₂ produced and hence the amount of LiOH required. The ΔH° for glucose(s) is −1273 kJ/mol.