How much air is needed for complete combustion of 67.1 liters of acetylene?

The oxidation reaction of acetylene with oxygen is described by the following chemical reaction equation:

2C2H2 + 5O2 = 4CO2 + 2H2O;

2 moles of acetylene are reacted with 5 moles of oxygen. This will synthesize 4 moles of carbon dioxide and 2 moles of water.

Let’s find the available chemical amount of acetylene.

To do this, we divide its volume by the volume of 1 mole of acetylene.

N C2H2 = 67.1 / 22.4 = 3 mol;

The required amount of oxygen will be equal to:

N O2 = N C2H2 x 5/2 = 3 x 5/2 = 7.5 mol;

The oxygen volume will be:

V O2 = 7.5 x 22.4 = 168 liters;