I believe I will do the trick.
I don't think 2 will work; flowing the gases through the converter faster will result in less time for reaction and that will be a negative effect.
If I looked up the 1/2N2 + 1/2O2 --> NO right ( you should confirm this) it was + meaning endothermic. So raising the engine combustion temperature would make it easier to form NO2 and that would make the converter work harder.
I would go with 1.
A car burning lead-free fuel has a catalytic converter fitted to its exhaust. On analysis its exhaust
gases are shown to contain small quantities of nitrogen oxides.
Which modifications would result in lower exhaust concentrations of nitrogen oxides?
1 an increase in the surface area of the catalyst in the converter
2 an increase in the rate of flow of the exhaust gases through the converter
3 a much higher temperature of combustion in the engine
Answer: 1 only
I understand 1 but not really sure about 2 and 3.
Someone please explain. Thanks!
2 answers
let's first understand the question. the question is indirectly asking us how to make the catalytic converter more efficient so that it can catalyse oxides of nitrogen back to nitrogen and oxygen (which are harmless gases as they are present in the atmosphere naturally). statement 1 is correct because when the surface area increases, the rate of reaction also increases and so more oxides of nitrogen are broken down. statement 2 is incorrect because if we increase the rate of flow of the exhaust gases, not enough time is available for the reaction to occur and less oxides of nitrogen are broken down. statement 3 is incorrect as well because if you increase the temperature further, the triple bond between N2 molecules will break as the activation energy is reached and more oxides of nitrogen will be formed. therefore, answer is D/1 only is correct. sorry for the late response lol.
2 answers