ABSTRACT
This chapter treats gas mixtures as if they were pure substances to which the ideal gas relation can be applied. Many mixtures of gases are of thermodynamic importance. The products of combustion from power plants and internal combustion engines are also mixtures of gases that are of interest. Dry air is a mixture of oxygen and nitrogen as the principal gases. Gaseous Freon-12 is used to slowly fill a tank that initially contained air at atmospheric pressure and temperature to a final pressure of 1000 psia and room temperature. Problems concerning air–water vapor mixtures can be considerably simplified by using the ideal gas equations for each of the components. The cooling tower is simply a device in which water is evaporatively cooled by air. In the natural-draft cooling tower, air is circulated through the tower in a horizontal direction while water is sprayed or trickled over wood filling or other materials.
