Anatomizing Thermophysical Properties of Atmospheric Gases (N2, O2, Ar, CO2) for Energy Generation, Environmental Protection, and Chemical Conversion: A Review

Abstract

The thermophysical properties of atmospheric gases are crucial for understanding their behavior in various applications. This paper provides an overview, highlighting control and utilization mechanisms of major atmospheric gases (N2, O2, Ar, and CO2) for energy generation, mitigation for environmental protection, and transformations in chemical reactions or systems. The top three atmospheric gases in terms of concentration, N2 78.084%, O2 20.946%, and Ar 0.934% were selected along with the most prevalent greenhouse gas, CO2 0.041%. In addition, CO2 is an essential gas used by plants and other organisms. The diffusion coefficient reflects the behavior (mixture properties) of the gases. Thermal energy conversion, combustion process, carbon capture and storage for greenhouse gas mitigation, absorption catalysis, synthesis, etcetera are media for applications analyzed from properties such as density, viscosity, specific heat, and thermal conductivity. These basic concepts and more, as stipulated in this paper, will provide a basis through which a sustainable and efficient research path involving atmospheric gases (composition in mixtures such as air and utility potential in applications) can be calved by current and future researchers.