Steam reforming of hydrocarbons is one way to make hydrogen gas (H₂) for fuel cell applications. However, the H₂-rich product gas produced by steam reforming is contaminated with 1.0 mole% of carbon monoxide (CO), which poisons the catalyst within the fuel cell, and so must be removed in order for the fuel cell to work better. It is desired to separate CO from the H₂ gas using a microporous catalytic ceramic membrane. The average pore diameter of the porous membrane material is 15 nm, and the void fraction (e) is 0.30. The system operates at 5.0 atm total system pressure and temperature of 400°C.

a. Estimate the molar concentration of CO in the gas mixture.

b. Estimate the molecular diffusion coefficient of CO in H₂ for the gaseous mixture at 5.0 atm and 400°C.

c. Estimate the effective diffusion of CO within the porous material. Assess the importance of Knudsen diffusion at the current process conditions.