Mass Transfer Unit Operations
Mass Transfer Unit Operations
Definitions:- What is Mass Transfer?
When a system contains two or more components whose concentrations vary from
point to point, there is a natural tendency for mass to be transferred, minimizing the
concentration differences within a system.
The process of transfer of mass as a result of the concentration difference of the
component in a mixture is called as a mass transfer.
Transfer of mass from one body to another body due to concentration difference at
molecular scale is mass transfer.
It is the transport of one constituent from a region of higher concentration to that of a
lower concentration.
Mass Transfer exists, when a component in a mixture migrates in the same phase or from
phase to phase because of a difference in concentration.
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Examples of Mass Transfer
Consider a tank that is divided into two equal
parts by a partition.
Initially, the left half of the tank contains
nitrogen N2 gas while the right half contains O2 at
the same temperature and pressure.
When the partition is removed the N2 molecules
will start diffusing into the air while the O2
molecules diffuse into the N2.
If we wait long enough, we will have a homogeneous mixture of N2 and O2
in the tank.
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Mass transfer is a phenomenon that takes place in numerous activities which we
undertake during day to day working such as adding sugar to tea, adding salt in a
vegetable curry, evaporation of water in to air in a cooler, drying of wet clothes, etc.
Mass transfer is different from movement of bulk fluid such as air movement
caused by a fan or blower and flow of water caused through a pipe due to pressure
difference or by a pump.
In mass transfer, movement is caused
by differences in concentration of the
substances between two regions.
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Concentration of a substance quantifies the amount of the substance per unit volume. This
amount can be on a mass or molar basis.
The mass concentration of a particular substance called the density and is expressed as;
In mass transfer concentration means molar concentration and is
expressed as
The mass transfer will continue till the concentration differences between two
regions exist and will stop when equilibrium is obtained.
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Mass transfer basically deals with transport of species:-
Within a medium for example sugar
dissolves in a cup of tea to sweeten the
entire tea cup as shown in Figure.
Across an interface for example from
one medium to another i.e. spreading of
food odour in the entire house as shown
in Figure.
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Mass transfer is similar to heat transfer in following ways:
The driving force for heat transfer is temperature gradient whereas mass
transfer occurs due to concentration gradient.
Heat transfer always takes place from high to low temperature regions,
similarly mass is transferred towards low concentration regions.
Heat transfer stops immediately when temperature difference becomes zero,
similarly, mass transfer ceases when concentration gradient is reduced to
zero.
The rates of heat and mass transfer depend upon the driving potential
and resistance.
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Mass transfer operation plays an important role in many industrial processes.
A group of operations for separating the components of mixtures is based on
the transfer of material from one homogeneous phase to another.
These methods is covered by the term mass transfer operations which include
techniques like gas absorption and stripping, liquid-liquid extraction,
distillation, leaching, humidification, drying, crystallization and number of
other separation techniques.
Mass transfer operations are generally applicable to processes that
essentially involve either componential or physical change, or both.
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Types of Operations in Mass Transfer
1. Absorption
2. Drying
4. Evaporation
3. Distillation
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Mass transfer mechanism
Mass transfer mechanism
Molecular Mass transfer Convective Mass transfer
Diffusion "Slow Motion” "Rapid Motion”
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Mass transfer mechanism
A. Molecular Mass transfer:
Molecular diffusion or molecular transport can be defined as the transfer
or movement of individual molecules through a fluid by mean of the
random, individual movements of the molecules.
There is a continuous molecular movement so, there is a net transfer between
the molecules of high concentration and molecules of low concentration.
Transfer of individual molecules through a fluid by random movement from
high concentration to low concentration.
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E.g. a drop of blue liquid dye is added to a cup of water, the dye molecules will
diffuse slowly by molecular diffusion to all parts of the water.
Sugar dissolves in a cup of tea to sweeten the entire tea cup
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Transfer of mass by diffusion occurs due to
Presence of concentration gradient in a mixture and is called ordinary
diffusion as shown in Figure 4.
Presence of thermal gradient and is termed as thermal diffusion
Presence of pressure gradient and is termed as pressure diffusion
Presence of external forces and is termed as forced diffusion
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B. Convective Mass transfer
Convective mass transfer is the movement of mass through a
medium as a result of the net motion of a material in the medium.
Using mechanical force or action to increase the rate of molecular diffusion.
E,g stirred the water to dissolve coffee during coffee making.
To increase the rate of mixing of the dye, the liquid can be mechanically
agitated by a spoon and convective mass transfer will occur.
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Fick’s First Law; Mass Flux; Equation of Continuity of Species
Molecular diffusion results from the motion of molecules.
At any instant, the individual molecules in a fluid are moving in random
directions at speeds varying from low to high values.
The molecules move at random, frequently colliding with one another.
Because of the frequent collisions, the molecular velocities are continually
changing in both direction and magnitude.
Diffusion is more rapid at higher temperatures due to greater molecular
velocities.
For gases, it is more rapid at low pressures because the average distance
between the molecules is greater and the collisions are less frequent.
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If a solution is not uniform in concentration, the solution is gradually brought into
uniformity by diffusion; the molecules move from an area of high concentration
to one of low concentration.
The rate at which a solute travels depends on the concentration gradient which
exists in the solution.
The transfer of a substance from one phase to another obviously requires time.
The rate of transfer is directly proportional to the surface of contact
between the phases and the driving force present for mass transfer, and
inversely proportional to the resistance to the transfer,.
This phenomena is described in the following equation as:-
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For mass transfer, the equation becomes
The above equations indicate that the rate of transfer can
be increased by:
1) Increasing the area,
2) Increasing the driving force, and
3) Decreasing the resistance.
These three factors are almost always considered in the
design of mass transfer equipment.
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Steady – State Diffusion (Fick’s First Law)
A flux of a quantity is defined as the amount of that quantity that is transported per unit
time across a unit area that is perpendicular to the direction of transport.
Thus, mass flux is defined as the amount of mass transported per unit time across a unit area
that is perpendicular to the direction of mass transport. Its SI units are kg m−2 s−1
Fick's First law states that the rate of diffusion of a substance across unit area (such as a
surface or membrane) is proportional to the concentration gradient.
Fick's first law of diffusion relates the concentration gradient to the flux J as: -
Where, J is the flux and is defined by the number or particles that are
moving past a given region divided by the area of that region multiplied
by the time interval. The units of J are mol m-2 s-1. or kg m−2 s−1 )
D is the Diffusion Coefficient or Diffusivity (m2 s-1),
dC/dx is concentration gradient
The minus sign in the equation means that diffusion is “downhill” toward
lower concentrations. 18
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For a species A, that diffuse in a system (a thin metal plate), the flux of component
A, that diffuse in a system can be calculated as follows:-
Where:
JA is Flux of A,
D is Diffusivity,
Ca is concentration of
component (A) at two
positions (x1 and x2).
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Steady-State Molecular Diffusion in Binary Systems
1. Mass transfer by ordinary molecular diffusion in a binary mixture occurs
because of a concentration gradient; that is, a species diffuses in the direction of
decreasing concentration.
2. The mass-transfer rate is proportional to the area normal to the direction of
mass transfer. Thus, the rate can be expressed as a flux.
3. Net transfer stops when concentrations are uniform.
For a binary system containing two components A and B, the flux of component of
A in z direction in a binary mixture is directly proportional to the molar
concentration gradient.
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[Link]
Where: - DAB is the diffusivity of component A in solution B, which is a measure
of its diffusive mobility, is defined as the ratio of its flux, JA, to its concentration
gradient`1
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Fick’s First Law of Mass Convection
As we saw earlier, mass transfer refers to mass in transit due to a species concentration
gradient in a mixture, and mass convection is one of the mechanisms for this transit.
Mass transfer by convection involves the transport of material between a boundary
surface (such as solid or liquid surface) and a moving fluid or between two relatively
immiscible, moving fluids.
Convective mass transfer is really diffusion (the random movement of molecules) in
combination with advection (molecules being carried along with the motion of the fluid).
Newton’s law of cooling
To quantify the rate of mass transfer owing to convection, we can make use of Newton’s
law of cooling (which, as we will see, also applies to convective heat transfer).
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Unsteady-State Molecular Diffusion (Fick’s Second Law)
In many real situations the concentration profile and the concentration gradient
are changing with time.
The changes of the concentration profile can be described in this case by a
differential equation, Fick’s second law.
Fick’s Second law: Concentration changing with time.
Solution of this equation is concentration profile as function of time, C (x, t).
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Steady – State Diffusion (Fick’s First Law)
1.2.3. Molecular Diffusion in Liquids and Gases
In Liquid Case:
Where:
J is Flux,
D is Diffusivity,
Ca is concentration of component
(A) at two positions (x1 and x2).
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Steady – State Diffusion (Fick’s First Law)
Molecular Diffusion in Liquids and Gases
In Gas Case:
Assume it is Ideal Gas.
Where:
J is Flux,
D is Diffusivity,
R is universal gas constant,
T is temperature,
pa is partial pressure of component (A) at two positions (x1 and x2).
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Diffusion in Solids and Transient Diffusion
Where:
ε = Porosity, or void fraction, it is measure of the void spaces in the material, and it is a
fraction of the volume of voids over the total volume. (between 0 to 1) or as percentage
(between 0 to 100 %).
τ = Tortuosity, it is a property of curve being tortuous (twisted; having many turns).
It is commonly used to described diffusion in porous media, such as soils and snow.
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Examples
A mixture of He and N2 gas is contained in a pipe at 298 K and 1 atm total pressure
which is constant throughout. At one end of the pipe at point 1 the partial pressure
PA1 of He is 0.6 atm and at the other end 0.2 m PA2= 0.2 atm. Calculate the flux of He
at steady state if DAB of the He-N2 mixture is 0.687 x 10-4m2/s, where R is 8.314
[Link]/mol.K and 1atm=1.0132×105 Pa.
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THANK YOU!!!
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