The carbon dioxide exhaled in the breath of astronauts is often removed from the spacecraft by reaction with lithium hydroxide.
2LiOH(s) + CO2(g) → Li2CO3(s) + H2O(l )
Estimate the grams of lithium hydroxide required per astronaut per day. Assume that each astronaut requires 2.50 × 103 kcal of energy per day. Further assume that this energy can be equated to the heat of combustion of a quantity of glucose, C6H12O6, to CO2(g) and H2O(l). From the amount of glucose required to give 2.50 × 103 kcal of heat, calculate the amount of CO2 produced and hence the amount of LiOH required. The ∆Hof for glucose(s) is 1273 kJ/mol.