UNIT V

MASS TRANSFER
INTRODUCTION
v In a system consisting of one or more components whose concentrations vary
from point to point, there is a natural tendency for the transport of different
species from the region of high to those of low concentration.
v This process of transfer of mass as a result of the species concentration
difference in a system / mixture is called mass transfer. So long as there is
concentration difference mass transfer will occur.
Some examples of mass transfer are:

A. Examples of Industrial importance

1. Refrigeration by the evaporation of liquid ammonia in the atmosphere of H2 is
Electrolux refrigerator.
2. Humidification of air in cooling tower.
3. Evaporation of petrol in the carburetor of an I.C. engine.
4. Neutron diffusion within nuclear reactors.
5. Estimation of depth to which carbon will penetrate in a mild steel specimen during
the act of carburizing.
B. Examples of day-to-day life
1. Dissolution of sugar added to a cup of coffee.
2. The separation of the components of a mixture by or absorption.
3. The transfer of water vapour into dry air, drying and evaporation.
4. Diffusion of smoke through tall chimneys into the environment.

MODES OF MASS TRANSFER

The mechanism of mass transfer depends greatly on the dynamics of the system
in which it occurs. Like those of heat transfer, there are different modes of mass transfer,
which are:
1. Mass transfer by diffusion;
2. Mass transfer by convection;
3. Mass transfer by change of phase.

1. Mass transfer by diffusion (molecular or eddy diffusion)

v The transport of water on a microscopic level as a result of diffusion from a region
of high concentration to a region of low concentration in a system/mixture of
liquids or gases is called molecular diffusion.
v It occurs when a substance diffuses through a layer of stagnant fluid and may be
due to concentration, temperature or pressure gradients. In a gaseous mixture,
molecular

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2. Mass transfer by convection
v Mass transfer by convection involves transfer between a moving fluid and a
surface, or between two relatively immiscible moving fluids.
v The convective mass transfer depends on the transport properties and on the
dynamic (laminar or turbulent) characteristics of the flowing fluid.
Example: The evaporation of ether.

3. Mass transfer by change of phase

v Mass transfer occurs whenever a change from one phase to another takes place.
v The mass transfer in such a case occurs due to simultaneous action of
convection and diffusion.
Some examples are:
1. Hot gases escaping from the chimney rise by convection and then diffuse into the
air above the chimney.
2. Mixing of water vapour with air during evaporation of water from the lake surface
(partly by convection and partly by diffusion).
3. Boiling of water in open air - there is first transfer of mass from liquid to vapour
state and then vapour mass from the liquid interface is transferred to the open air
by convection as well as by diffusion.

CONCENTRATIONS, VELOCITIES AND FLUXES

Concentrations

Mass concentration (or mass density):

The mass concentration or mass density ρA of species A in a multi-component mixture is
defined as the mass of A per unit volume of the mixture. It is expressed in kg/m3 units.

Molar concentration (or molar density):

The molar concentration CA of species A is defined as the number of moles of species A
per unit volume of the mixture. It is expressed in\kg mole/m3 units.
The mass concentration and molar, concentration are related by the expression,

Where, MA =molecular weight of component A.

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Mass fraction:
The mass fraction, mA is defined as the ratio of mass concentration of species A to the
total mass density,ρ of the mixture.

Mole fraction:
The mole fraction, XA in terms of total mole concentration of the mixture, C is defined as

In a binary mixture of A and B, by definition, the following summation rules hold good.

Where G =universal gas constant =MR = 8314 J/kg mole K.

Velocities:
The bulk velocity of a mixture, in which different components may have different
mobility s, is computed either on mass-average or molar-average basis.
In a fluid mixture of two components A and B, if uA and uB is the mean velocities (of the
components, respectively), then: The mass-average velocity ("mass) is defined by

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The molar-average velocity ("molar) is defined by

Fluxes
Flux of mass transfer is caused by the existence of different velocities and
concentrations.
For species A of the multi-component mixture:
Absolute flux = ρA uA

v In order to understand the mass diffusion (a transport process originating from

molecular activity), consider a chamber in which two different gas species A and
B at the same temperature and pressure are initially separated by a partition.
v The left compartment has a high concentration (i.e., more molecules per unit
volume) of gas A (open circles) whereas the right compartment is rich in gas B
(dark circles).
v When the partition wall is removed a driving potential comes into existence which
tends to equalize the concentration difference.
v Mass transfer by diffusion will be in the direction of decreasing concentration and
subsequently there will be a net transport of species A to the right and of species
B to the left.
v After a sufficiently long period, equilibrium conditions prevail i.e., uniform
concentrations of species A and B are achieved and then the mass diffusion
ceases.

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Fig. 1. Mass transfer by diffusion in a binary gas mixture.

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 Fig. 2. Concentration profile.

In above Equation - ve sign indicates that diffusion takes place in the direction opposite
to that of increasing concentration. The diffusion rate for species B is given by

It may be noted that diffusion coefficient D (i.e., DAB or DBA in this case) is dependent
upon the temperature, pressure and nature of the components of the system.

v By comparison of the above equations, we find that the Fourier equation

describes the transport of heat energy due to temperature gradient, the shear
equation describes.
v The transport of momentum due to velocity gradient while the Fick's law
describes the mass transport due to concentration gradient.

Thus units of mass diffusion coefficient are identical to those of thermal diffusivity
(α) and kinematic viscosity (ν). Thus, diffusion coefficient is a transport property of the
fluid.

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Further, by using perfect gas equation the Fick's law may be expressed in terms of
partial pressures of species as follows:

Substituting the value of PA is Equation we get

Similarly, for species B:

v These are valid only when diffusion occurs due to concentration gradient and fail
when diffusion occurs due to a temperature gradient, pressure gradient or an
external force.
v The mass or molar fluxes are measured relative to co-ordinates which move with
some average velocity of the mixture. These equations become invalid if the flux
(mass or molar) is expressed relative to a fixed set of coordinates.

Some important aspects of Pick's law of diffusion:

1. Pick's law is based on experimental evidence and cannot be derived from first
principles.
2. Pick's law is valid for all matter irrespective of its state (e.g., solid, liquid or gas).
3. The mass diffusion, besides consultation gradient, may occur due to a
temperature gradient, a pressure gradient or an external force; however, while
applying Pick's law it is assumed that these additional effects are either absent
or negligibly small.
4. The movement of a diffusion substance is in .the direction of decreasing
concentration. In a diffusion process, the concentration difference is similar to
temperature difference in a heat transfer process.
5. Diffusion coefficient (D), in general, is dependent upon temperature, pressure
and nature of the system component; however, for ideal gases and dilute
liquids it can be assumed to remain practically constant for a given range of
temperature and pressure.

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Mass diffusion coefficient
By using kinetic theory of gases it is possible to predict the mass diffusion
coefficient DAB for the binary mixture of two gases, A and B; it is of the form given below:

P =total pressure in atmosphere =PA + PB

T =absolute temperature of the binary gas mixture, K,

DAB-for liquids is wholly available from experiments.

v Liquid mass diffusivities are considerably smaller than those for the gases. This is
due to high molecular density in me liquid phase.
v However, increase in DAB with increase in temperature has been observed.
Diffusion in solids is even slower than in liquids, only very little information in the
experimental form is available.
An effective diffusivity in case of steady state diffusion through a non-diffusing, in multi
component mixture of constant composition is given by:

For gas pairs of non-polar, non-reacting molecules, the diffusion coefficient is given by:

DAB =mass diffusivity of gas species B diffusing through another gas species A, cm2/s;
T =absolute temperature, K;
P =total pressure in atmospheres =PA + PB;
σAB =collision diameter in A (Angstroms);
Ω =collision integral, a dimensionless function of the temperature and the intermolecular
potential field for one molecule of A and one molecule of B;
MA, MB =molecular weights of gas species A and B respectively.

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In case of a binary system, composed of non-polar molecule pairs, we have:

The diffusion coefficient for dilute liquids is calculated from the following empirical
relation:

DAB =diffusivity of solute A through a solvent B, m2/s;

T =absolute temperature, K;

Fig. 3. Control volume for species conservation equation.

v Consider a homogeneous medium consisting of binary mixture of species A and
B. Let the medium be stationary (i.e., the mass average or molar average velocity
of the mixture is zero) and mass transfer may occur only by diffusion.
v Now, consider a differential control volume dx dy dz as shown in Fig. 3. The y
mass balance of species A diffusing through the control volume in the stationary
medium B is given by:

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Along X-direction

Accumulations of mass of species A in the control volume due to its mass diffusion in the
X-direction is given by the difference between the mass influx and mass efflux.
:. Mass of species accumulated/stored, due to diffusion, within the control volume

Similarly the mass accumulation of species A along Y and Z directions in given by:

As a result of volumetric chemical reactions occurring throughout the medium,

there may be a generation of species A within the control volume, which may be
expressed as

NA,g =rate of increase of the mass of species A due to chemical reactions per unit volume
of the mixture, kg/s.m3.
v The total mass of species A accumulated in the control volume due to mass
diffusion along the coordinate axes and the mass generated within the control
volume serves to increase the mass concentration of species A.
v This increase is reflected by the time rate of change in mass concentration of
species A in the control volume and is

Now, from mass-balance considerations, we have

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Dividing both sides by dx dy dz. we get

For a stationary medium, using Fick's law, the above Eqn. reduces to

If DAB and C are constant the above equation becomes

The above equation is analogous to the heat conduction equation. A few typical
boundary conditions are:

Upon integration, we have

Using the boundary conditions, we have

Substituting these values in equation we get

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The mass transfer rate is given by

(L/D) is known as diffusional resistance.

The above expression can be used for solving the problems on composite membranes.
The diffusion rate in the radial direction of a cylindrical system of inner and outer radii of
r1and r2 respectively and length L is

STEADY STATE EQUIMOLAR COUNTER DIFFUSION

Equimolar counter diffusion between species A and B of a binary gas mixture is defined
as an isothermal diffusion process in which each molecule of component A is replaced
by each

P A, PB = partial pressures, and

NA, NB = molar diffusion rates of the gases/species A and B respectively.

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 Fig. 5. Equimolar counter diffusion.

It is evident from Fig. 5 that species A and B are Chamber diffusing in the direction of A
their decreasing concentration gradient (i.e., opposite direction).
As per Dalton's law of partial pressures, the total pressure (P) is equal to the sum of the
partial pressures of the constituents (PA, PB) i.e., P = PA + PB Differentiating with respect
to x, we obtain

Since the total pressure of the system remains constant under steady conditions,
therefore,

Further, under steady state conditions, the total molar flux, relative to stationary
coordinates must be zero. Thus,

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A practical example of this process is obtained in the distillation of two constituents
whose molar latent heats of vaporization are essentially equal.

ISOTHERMAL EVAPORATION OF WATER INTO Am FROM A SURFACE

Let us consider isothermal evaporation of water from a surface and its subsequent
diffusion through the stagnant layer of air over it as shown in Fig.6. For the analysis of
this type of mass diffusion following assumptions are made:
1. The system is under steady state and isothermal conditions.
2. The total pressure within the system remains constant.
3. Air as well as water vapour behaves as an ideal gas.
4. There is a slight air movement over the top of the tank to remove the water
vapour which diffuses to that point; however, this movement does not disturb the
concentration profile of air in the tank.
5. The water concentration at the surface of water is much more compared to that at
the top of the tank

Fig.6. Diffusion of water vapour through air.

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Under steady state conditions the upward movement of water must be balanced by a
downward diffusion of air so that concentration at any distance from the water surface
remains constant.
Mass diffusion of air in the downward direction is given, by

MASS TRANSFER COEFFICIENT

Mass transfer coefficient hmc similar to convective heat transfer coefficient, h may
also be defined of species A as follows:

hmc= diffusion mass transfer coefficient of species A based on concentration difference,

A =area of cross-section. m2
CA1,CA2= fluid concentrations at the two faces.
The mass transfer coefficient can also be expressed in terms of partial pressure
differences for species A.

Above equation gives relationship between hmp and hme

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For diffusion of water vapour through a layer of stagnant air, we have

Therefore, the mass transfer coefficient based on pressure differences, hmp works out to
be

The corresponding expression for mass transfer coefficient based upon concentration
difference is given by

CONVECTIVE MASS TRANSFER

v Whereas molecular diffusion mass transfer is analogous to conduction heat

transfer (during molecular diffusion, the bulk velocities are, insignificant and only
diffusion velocities are considered), the convective mass transfer is analogous to
convective heat transfer (this is particularly true for low concentrations of mass in
the fluid and low mass transfer rates).
v Mass transfer by convection takes place in cases where the bulk velocity is
appreciable or when both the species, in a binary mixture, are moving with
significant velocities.
v Mass convection, like heat convection, may occur under free or forced conditions.
The buoyancy force causing circulation in free convection mass transfer results
from the differences in density of the vapour-air mixtures of varying compositions.
v The evaporation of alcohol is an example of free convention mass transfer,
whereas the evaporation of water from an ocean when air blows over it is a case
of forced convection mass transfer.
v The fluid flow may be laminar or turbulent. If the fluid flow is laminar then all of the
transport between the surface and moving fluid will be by molecular means.
v On the other hand, if the fluid flow is turbulent, there will be physical movement of
the material across streamlines, transported by eddies present in the turbulent
flow. As in the case of heat transfer, higher mass transfer rates are associated
with turbulent conditions.

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 v Therefore, in any convective situation, the distribution between laminar or
turbulent flow will be an important consideration.
v Mass transfer by convection involves the transporation of material between a
boundary surface and a moving fluid or between two immiscible moving fluids. It
is expressed as

CORRELATIONS FOR CONVECTIVE MASS TRANSFER

The equations for conservation of momentum and energy for the boundary layer
development on a flat plate are:

Similarly, the concentration equation may be written as

C= concentration of the component which is diffusing through the boundary layer

D =diffusion coefficient.
In the correlations the following parameters are used:

1. Prandtl number (Pr):

Prandtl number, Pr = v/α. It forms the connecting link between velocity and
temperature profiles; these profiles become identical when Pr =1.

2. Schmidt number (Sc):

Schmidt number, (Sc) = v/D. It forms the connecting link between velocity and
concentration profiles; these profiles show the identical behavior when Sc =1.

3. Lewis number (Le)

Lewis number, Le =α / D. It forms a connecting link between the temperature and
concentration profiles; these profiles become identical when Le =1.

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