Ambo University

Engineering Thermodynamics II
Thermodynamics II
Chapter 1

Gas Mixtures
 1. Mixture of Ideal Gases
Introduction
• In the analysis and application of the basic laws of thermodynamics,
consideration is normally given to systems involving constant and
uniform chemical compositions. Many Engineering applications,
however, involve mixtures of gases whose properties are
determined in the same way as for a single gas.
• An ideal gas is one which strictly obeys all the gas laws under given
conditions of temperature and pressure
• The concept of the ideal gas represents a limiting state that can be
approached but not achieved by any real gas
• Analysis of many Mechanical Engineering processes are conducted
at pressures and temperatures that the ideal gas laws can be used
as simple and reasonably close approximations to the behaviour of
the real gas.

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 The characteristic Gas Equation

The Physical properties of a gas are controlled by:

• The pressure P exerted by the gas
• The Volume V occupied by the gas and
• The temperature T of the gas
The behaviour of an ideal gas, undergoing any change in the above
variables, is governed by such laws as Boyle’s and Charle’s law
Boyle’s law states that “the volume of a given mass of a gas varies
inversely as its absolute pressure provided the temperature remains
constant
1
v
p

Charles’ law states that “ the volume of a given mass varies directly as
its absolute temperature provided the pressure is kept constant”
vT 3
• In Engineering practice, volume, pressure and temperature of a
system varies simultaneously. When both temperature T and
Pressure p vary
T
v
p
• The proportionality may be replaced by R

RT
v
p

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• The constant R is known as the characteristic gas constant . For the
mass m of a particular gas
•
pV  mRT

P=absolute pressure of gas in N/m2

T= absolute temperature of gas in K,
R=characterstic gas constant in Nm/kgK
V= volume of gas in m3
m= mass pf gas in kg

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 The universal gas constant

• The product of the characterstic gas constant R and the molecular weight M
of an ideal gas is constant known as the universal gas constant Ro

Ro  MR  8314.3Nm / moleK

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The discussions in this chapter are restricted to nonreactive ideal-gas mixtures.

Many thermodynamic applications involve mixtures of ideal gases. That is, each of
the gases in the mixture individually behaves as an ideal gas. In this section, we
assume that the gases in the mixture do not react with one another to any significant
degree.

We restrict ourselves to a study of only ideal-gas mixtures. An ideal gas is one in

which the equation of state is given by

PV  mRT or PV  NRuT

Air is an example of an ideal gas mixture and has the following approximate
composition.

Component % by Volume
N2 78.10
O2 20.95
Argon 0.92
CO2 + trace elements 0.03
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Definitions

Consider a container having a volume V that is filled with a mixture of k different

gases at a pressure P and a temperature T.

A mixture of two or more gases of fixed chemical composition is called a nonreacting

gas mixture. Consider k gases in a rigid container as shown here. The properties of
the mixture may be based on the mass of each component, called gravimetric
analysis, or on the moles of each component, called molar analysis.

k gases
T = Tm V = Vm
P = Pm m = mm

The total mass of the mixture mm and the total moles of mixture Nm are defined as
k k
mm   mi and N m   Ni
i 1 i 1

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The composition of a gas mixture is described by specifying either the mass fraction
mfi or the mole fraction yi of each component i.
mi Ni
mf i  and yi 
mm Nm
Note that
k k

 mf
i 1
i =1 and y
i 1
i 1

The mass and mole number for a given component are related through the molar
mass (or molecular weight).
mi  Ni Mi
To find the average molar mass for the mixture Mm , note
k k
mm   mi   N i Mi  N m M m
i 1 i 1

Solving for the average or apparent molar mass Mm

k k
mm Ni
Mm   Mi   yi Mi ( kg / kmol )
N m i 1 N m i 1

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The apparent (or average) gas constant of a mixture is expressed as
Ru
Rm  ( kJ / kg  K )
Mm
Can you show that Rm is given as
k
Rm   mf i Ri
i 1

To change from a mole fraction analysis to a mass fraction analysis, we can show
that
yM
mf i  k i i
 yi Mii 1

To change from a mass fraction analysis to a mole fraction analysis, we can show that
mf / Mi
yi  k i
 mf i / Mi
i 1

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Volume fraction (Amagat model)

Divide the container into k subcontainers, such that each subcontainer has only one
of the gases in the mixture at the original mixture temperature and pressure.

Amagat's law of additive volumes states that the volume of a gas mixture is equal to
the sum of the volumes each gas would occupy if it existed alone at the mixture
temperature and pressure.
k
Amagat's law: Vm  Vi (Tm , Pm )
i 1

The volume fraction of the vfi of any component is

Vi (Tm , Pm )
vf i 
Vm
and
k

 vf
i 1
i =1
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For an ideal gas mixture
N i Ru Tm N m Ru Tm
Vi  and Vm 
Pm Pm
Taking the ratio of these two equations gives
Vi Ni
vf i    yi
Vm N m
The volume fraction and the mole fraction of a component in an ideal gas mixture are
the same.

Partial pressure (Dalton model)

The partial pressure of component i is defined as the product of the mole fraction and
the mixture pressure according to Dalton’s law. For the component i
Pi  yi Pm
k
Dalton’s law: Pm   Pi (Tm ,Vm )
i 1

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Now, consider placing each of the k gases in a separate container having the volume
of the mixture at the temperature of the mixture. The pressure that results is called
the component pressure, Pi' .

N i Ru Tm N m Ru Tm
Pi '  and Pm 
Vm Vm
Note that the ratio of Pi' to Pm is
Pi ' Vi N
  i  yi
Pm Vm N m

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