Assignment As he was leaving work, a dry cleaning worker accidentally spilled a

Question

Assignment As he was leaving work, a dry cleaning worker accidentally spilled a full gallon container of perchloroethylene onto the floor of the dry cleaning establishment. He left the building without realizing he had spilled the solvent. The building temperature is maintained at 72 F. All of the solvent evaporated overnight and the building was completely closed during that time. The interior dimensions of the building are 30 feet wide x 50 long x 12 feet high. Answer the following questions. 1. How many pounds of solvent were spilled? 2. How many cubic feet in the building? 3. What would the expected concentration in ppm of perchloroethylene be in the building when the worker returned the next morning?

Explanation / Answer

1. Density of percloroethylene at 72 F is 13.563 lbs/gallon. So when one gallon is spilled, 13.563 pounds of solvent were spilled.

2. Volume of the building is 30 x 50 x 12 = 18000 cubic feet.

3. 1 ppm is defined as 1 mg mass in one litre volume. 1 lb/gal = 119826.427301 ppm. The concentration of spilled solvent is (13.563/18000 )* 119826.427301 ppm = 90.3 ppm

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