Gas Industry

In physics, a gas is a state of matter, consisting of a collection of particles (molecules, atoms, ions, electrons, etc.) without a definite shape or volume that are in more or less random motion. Due to the electronic nature of the aforementioned particles, a "force field" is present throughout the space around them. Interactions between these "force fields" from one particle to the next give rise to the term intermolecular forces. Dependent on distance, these intermolecular forces influence the motion of these particles and hence their thermodynamic properties. At the temperatures and pressures characteristic of many applications, these particles are normally greatly separated. This separation corresponds to a very weak attractive force. As a result, for many applications, this intermolecular force becomes negligible.

When analyzing a system, it is typical to specify a length scale. A larger length scale may correspond to a macroscopic view of the system, while a smaller length scale corresponds to a microscopic view. On a macroscopic scale, the quantities measured are in terms of the large scale effects that a gas has on a system or its surroundings such as its velocity, pressure, or temperature. Mathematical equations, such as the Extended hydrodynamic equations, Navier-Stokes equations and the Euler equations have been developed to attempt to model the relations of the pressure, density, temperature, and velocity of a moving gas.

The pressure exerted by a gas uniformly across the surface of a container can be described by simple kinetic theory. The particles of a gas are constantly moving in random directions and frequently collide with the walls of the container and/or each other. These particles all exhibit the physical properties of mass, momentum, and energy, which all must be conserved. In classical mechanics, Momentum, by definition, is the product of mass and velocity. Kinetic energy is one half the mass multiplied by the square of the velocity.

The temperature of any physical system is the result of the motions of the molecules and atoms which make up the system. In statistical mechanics, temperature is the measure of the average kinetic energy stored in a particle. The methods of storing this energy are dictated by the degrees of freedom of the particle itself (energy modes). These particles have a range of different velocities, and the velocity of any single particle constantly changes due to collisions with other particles. The range in speed is usually described by the Maxwell-Boltzmann distribution.