How Much Iron Is Required to Treat Perchloroethene Contamination in Water?

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To treat 5 million gallons of water contaminated with 4.2 mg/L of Perchloroethene (C2CL4), the balanced reaction indicates that 4 moles of iron (Fe) are required for each mole of PCE. The total volume of water translates to approximately 1.89 x 10^7 liters, leading to a total PCE concentration of about 79,380 mg. Given that only 20 grams of Fe is reactive, further calculations are needed to determine the exact amount of Fe required for complete treatment. The discussion highlights a potential lack of information regarding the reactivity of Fe in relation to the total contamination. Accurate calculations are essential to ascertain the grams of Fe needed for effective remediation.
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1. Homework Statement [/b]

Given:
C2CL4 + Fe \rightarrow C2H4 + CL- + Fe2+

A reservoir contains 5million gallons of water which is contaminated with 4.2mg/L of Perchloroethene(C2CL4). You want too reduce it to harmless ethene(C2H4) by reacting it with Fe. because of this only about 20g of the added Fe is reactive. If you need to treat 5million gallons of water, how many grams of Fe will you need to treat the Perchloroethene(PCE)?





Homework Equations



I first balanced the equation
C2CL4 + 4H+ + 4Fe \rightarrow C2H4 + 4CL- + 4Fe^2+

Concentration of PCE=4.2mg/L
5mill gallons of water = 1.89 x 10^7 L

I do not know where to go from here






The Attempt at a Solution


 
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How many times bigger is the amount of PCE in the 5 million gallon tank than in the elementary reaction? How many milligrams, and therefore moles, of PCE is in the tank? I believe some information is missing related to your "20 grams" comment about the Fe.