Question 42

Nitric acid can be manufactured from ammonia in a three-stage process.

stage 1: ammonia is burned in oxygen to form nitrogen monoxide and steam

4\text{NH}_3 + 5\text{O}_2 \rightarrow 4\text{NO} + 6\text{H}_2\text{O}

stage 2: the nitrogen monoxide is reacted with more oxygen to form nitrogen dioxide

2\text{NO} + \text{O}_2 \rightarrow 2\text{NO}_2

stage 3: the nitrogen dioxide is reacted with water to form nitric acid and nitrogen monoxide

Write a chemical equation for the reaction rate of stage 3 that forms nitric acid and nitrogen monoxide from nitrogen dioxide and water.

A mass of $tonnes51\text{ tonnes}$ of ammonia is reacted with oxygen in stage 1.

Calculate the maximum mass, in tonnes, of nitrogen dioxide ( $NO2\text{NO}_2$ ) that can be produced in stage 2.

$g][1\text{ tonne} = 1.0 \times 10^6\text{ g}]$

Calculate the minimum volume at rtp, in cubic decimetres ( $dm3\text{dm}^3$ ), of oxygen required to completely react with $tonnes60\text{ tonnes}$ of nitrogen monoxide in stage 2.

$dm3][1\text{ mol of gas at rtp has a volume of } 24\text{ dm}^3]$