A fuel supplier treats a liquid fuel to remove most of its sulfur impurity. Equal masses of the untreated fuel and the treated fuel are burned in the same electricity generator engine under the same conditions. The engine operates at high temperature.
| Fuel | Sulfur content in percent by mass | Sulfur dioxide concentration in exhaust gas in mg per cubic metre | Oxides of nitrogen concentration in exhaust gas in mg per cubic metre |
|---|---|---|---|
| Untreated | 0.60 | 480 | 310 |
| Treated | 0.05 | 42 | 305 |
Use the data to explain why the treatment has a large effect on the concentration of one pollutant but little effect on the concentration of the other pollutant.
The supplier considers replacing the treated fuel with a pure hydrocarbon. Predict what would happen to the concentration of sulfur dioxide in the exhaust gas. Explain your answer.
102 exam-style questions on AQA GCSE Chemistry 9.3 Common atmospheric pollutants and their sources, covering 9.3.1 Atmospheric pollutants from fuels and 9.3.2 Properties and effects of atmospheric pollutants. Each one has a worked solution and a mark scheme showing where the marks go.