How do I calculate CO2 output from a compressed air tank with 5% CO2?

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SUMMARY

This discussion focuses on calculating the CO2 output from a compressed air tank containing 5% CO2 and 95% air, with a flow rate of 0.01 LPM. Given a tank volume of 95 liters of air and 5 liters of CO2, the moles of CO2 can be computed based on the flow rate and concentration. As the tank depletes, the concentration of CO2 increases due to the heavier molecular weight of CO2 (44 g/mol) compared to air (29 g/mol), affecting the output over time.

PREREQUISITES
  • Understanding of gas laws and molar calculations
  • Familiarity with flow rate measurements in liters per minute (LPM)
  • Knowledge of molecular weights of gases (CO2 and air)
  • Basic principles of concentration and dilution
NEXT STEPS
  • Calculate the number of moles of CO2 using the ideal gas law
  • Research the effects of gas composition on flow rates
  • Explore methods for measuring gas concentrations in mixed gases
  • Investigate the implications of gas molecular weight on tank depletion
USEFUL FOR

Engineers, environmental scientists, and anyone involved in gas analysis or compressed air systems will benefit from this discussion.

wils0645
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If I have a tank of compressed air with 5% CO2 and 95% air, and I know the flow rate coming out of the tank is 0.01 LPM, how do I determine the number of [moles/L] of CO2 coming out of the tank?
 
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Imagine that in the tank you have 95 liters of air and 5 liters of CO2. Compute the number of moles of CO2. This will be the number of moles of CO2 in 100 liters. The rest you can do yourself.
 
Naturally you will have 5% of 0.01LPM CO2 coming out of the tank. There's a slight change over time because CO2 molecule is 44 which is heavier than air (29). When the tank goes to the end, the concentration of CO2 is higher than 5%, so are other heavier contaminant gases.
 

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