Heat of Combustion of Fuels
Objective
The objective of the exercise is to calculate the energy density of several hydrocarbon fuels and
alcohol substitutes.
Procedure
Concerns about finite petroleum reserves have led to a search for renewable energy sources to supplement
or replace traditional hydrocarbon fuels. Ethanol has been proposed as an alternative fuel source for
automobiles because it can be prepared from fermentation of almost any plant product. In some areas,
"gasohol" consisting of 90% gasoline and 10% ethanol is already in use.
The heat of combustion DcH for a fuel is defined as enthalpy change
for the following reaction when balances:
Fuel + O2 (g) ® CO2 (g) + H2O(l)
Balance the combustion reaction for each fuel below.
|
octane: |
C8H18 + O2 ® CO2 + H2O |
butane: |
C4H10 + O2 ® CO2 + H2O |
butanol: |
C4H9OH + O2 ® CO2 + H2O |
ethanol: |
C2H5OH + O2 ® CO2 + H2O |
|
Heats of combustion can be calculated from heats of formation DfH.
Use PM3 to calculate DfH for octane, butane, butanol, and ethanol.
Fill in the first blank column on the following table.
|
Fuel |
PM3 DfH |
Mass % oxygen |
DcH (kJ/mol) |
DcH (kJ/gram) |
DcH (kJ/mL) |
n-C8H18 |
  |
  |
  |
  |
  |
n-C4H10 |
  |
  |
  |
  |
  |
C4H9OH |
  |
  |
  |
  |
  |
C2H5OH |
  |
  |
  |
  |
  |
|
Use the NIST Chemistry WebBook to look up literature
DfH values for O2, CO2, and H2O.
Use one of the many online MSDS archives (Cornell,
University of Vermont) to obtain density (denoted as specific gravity in a MSDS) values for the four
fuels. Then use this information to complete the remaining four blank columns of the above table.
|
Species |
DfH (kJ/mol) |
O2 (g) |
  |
CO2 (g) |
  |
H2O (l) |
  |
|
|
Species |
Molar Mass (g/mol) |
Density (g/mL) |
C8H18 |
  |
  |
C4H10 |
  |
  |
C4H9OH |
  |
  |
C2H5OH |
  |
  |
|
Explain the observed trend for the computed values of kJ/mL.
Key
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