Carbon Monoxide Garage Example

Problem: A home in Florida loses electricity when a hurricane makes landfall. The hurricane is
slow-moving and takes several days to move through the area. In order to power a fan and a
refrigerator, the homeowner starts a gas-powered generator in his garage. The garage is closed
and has the following dimensions: a length of 6 m, a width of 5.5 m, and a floor-to-ceiling
height of 2.5 m. The garage ventilation rate is 0.60 air changes per hour (ach). The gas-powered
generator releases an average of 990 g carbon monoxide (CO) per hour. Assume that gases in
the garage are well-mixed and that the initial CO concentration inside the garage is zero. No CO
is expected to enter the garage as part of the ventilation air from outside. Furthermore, no CO-
based reaction takes place (i.e., the removal reaction rate constant is assumed to be zero).
Molecular weights: C = 12; O = 16.
a) What will be the steady-state CO concentration in the garage (g/m3)?
𝑆
𝐴𝐶0 + ∀
𝐶𝑖 𝑠𝑠 =( )
𝐴+𝑘

𝜇𝑔
𝐶0 = 0 𝑚3

𝐴 = 0.60 𝑎𝑐ℎ
S = 990 g/hr
∀ = 6 𝑚 ∗ 5.5 𝑚 ∗ 2.5 𝑚 = 82.5 𝑚3
k=0
µ𝑔 990 𝑔/ℎ𝑟
(0.60 𝑎𝑐ℎ ∗ 0 3 ) +
𝐶𝑖 𝑠𝑠 =( 𝑚 82.5 𝑚3 )
0.60 𝑎𝑐ℎ + 0

𝑔/ℎ𝑟
12
𝐶𝑖 𝑠𝑠 =( 𝑚3 ) = 𝟐𝟎 𝒈
0.60 𝑎𝑐ℎ 𝒎𝟑

b) How long (min) will it take until the garage concentration of CO reaches 12,800 ppm, a
CO concentration that can result in death within three minutes of exposure? Assume the
temperature in the garage is 30 °C (303.15 K) and the pressure is 1 atm. R = 8.2057*10-5
m3-atm/K-mol.

12,800 𝑝𝑝𝑚 𝑛
𝐶𝑖 = ∗ ∗ 𝑀𝑊
106 𝑉
 𝑃𝑉 = 𝑛𝑅𝑇
𝑛 𝑃 1 𝑎𝑡𝑚 𝑚𝑜𝑙
= 𝑅𝑇 = 1 𝑚3
= 40.2
𝑉 0.08206
𝐿−𝑎𝑡𝑚
∗303.15 𝐾∗ 𝑚3
𝐾−𝑚𝑜𝑙 1000 𝐿

𝑔 𝑔 𝑔
𝑀𝑊 = 12 + 16 = 28 𝑚𝑜𝑙
𝑚𝑜𝑙 𝑚𝑜𝑙

12,800 𝑝𝑝𝑚 𝑚𝑜𝑙 𝑔

𝐶𝑖 = 6
∗ 40.2 3 ∗ 28
10 𝑚 𝑚𝑜𝑙
𝑔
𝐶𝑖 = 14.4 3
𝑚

𝑡 −𝑡
𝐶𝑖 = 𝐶𝑖 𝑠𝑠 ∗ (1 − 𝑒 [−𝜏] ) + 𝐶0 𝑒 ( 𝜏 )
𝑡 µ𝑔 −𝑡
𝐶𝑖 = 𝐶𝑖 𝑠𝑠 ∗ (1 − 𝑒 [−𝜏] ) + 0 ( )
∗ 𝑒 𝜏
𝑚3
𝑡
𝐶𝑖 = 𝐶𝑖 𝑠𝑠 ∗ (1 − 𝑒 [−𝜏] )

𝐶𝑖
𝑡 = −𝜏 ∗ ln (1 − )
𝐶𝑖 𝑠𝑠
𝑔
𝐶𝑖 𝑠𝑠 = 20 3
𝑚
∀ 1 1
𝜏= = = = 1.667 ℎ𝑟 −1
𝑄 𝐴 0.60 𝑎𝑐ℎ

𝑔
3 14.4
𝑡 = −1.667 ℎ𝑟 −1 ∗ ln (1 − 𝑚
𝑔 ) = 2.12 ℎ𝑟
20 3
𝑚
60 𝑚𝑖𝑛
𝑡 = 2.12 ℎ𝑟 ∗ = 𝟏𝟐𝟕. 𝟒 𝒎𝒊𝒏
1 ℎ𝑟