A coal burning plant that burns 4 metric tons of coal containing 2% sulfur (S) requires 1 metric ton of wet limestone (calcium carbonate) to remove 90% of the sulfur. The process prevents most of the sulfur from being emitted as sulfur dioxide to the air by producing calcium sulfate.
2CaCO3 + 2SO2 + O2 -----> 2CaSO4 + 2CO2
How do I calculate the percentage of limestone converted to calcium sulfate?
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To calculate the percentage of limestone converted to calcium sulfate in this process, you need to determine the amount of limestone and calcium sulfate involved.
First, calculate the amount of sulfur present in the coal burned by the plant:
4 metric tons of coal * 2% sulfur = 0.08 metric tons of sulfur
Next, calculate the amount of sulfur dioxide produced:
0.08 metric tons of sulfur * (1 metric ton of SO2 / 1 metric ton of S) = 0.08 metric tons of SO2
Since the limestone is used to remove 90% of the sulfur, only 10% of the sulfur will remain as sulfur dioxide.
Calculate the amount of SO2 that is converted to CaSO4:
0.08 metric tons of SO2 * 10% = 0.008 metric tons of SO2
According to the balanced chemical equation, 2 metric tons of SO2 will produce 2 metric tons of CaSO4. So, you can set up a proportion to find the amount of limestone (CaCO3) required to produce 0.008 metric tons of CaSO4:
(1 metric ton of CaCO3) / (2 metric tons of CaSO4) = (x metric tons of CaCO3) / (0.008 metric tons of CaSO4)
Solving for x, we find that x = 0.004 metric tons of CaCO3.
To calculate the percentage of limestone converted to calcium sulfate, divide the amount of limestone converted by the initial amount of limestone and multiply by 100:
(0.004 metric tons of CaCO3 / 1 metric ton of CaCO3) * 100 = 0.4%
Therefore, approximately 0.4% of the limestone is converted to calcium sulfate in this process.