Mass Transfer Fundamentals

CHE-456
Course Outline
 Introduction to mass transfer and its applications
 Mass conservation equations for single and multicomponent mixture
 Principles of diffusion transfer between phases
 Fick’s law
 Analogies with momentum and heat transfer
 Steady state diffusion in gases and liquids
 Transient diffusion
 Mass transfer theories
 Mass transfer coefficients through various geometries and flow
patterns
 Equilibrium stage operations
 Equipment for stage contacts
Recommended Books
1. “Unit Operations of Chemical Engineering” by W. L. McCabe, J. C. Smith, and P.
Harriott
2. “Fundamentals of Heat and Mass Transfer’’ by F. P. Incropera, D. P. DeWitt, T. L.
Bergman, and A. S. Lavine
3. “Separation Process Principles” by J. D. Seader, and E. J. Henley
4. “Principles of Mass Transfer and Separation Processes” by B. K. Dutta
5. “Mass Transfer Operations” by R. E. Treybal
6. “Principles of Unit Operations” by A. S. Foust, L. A. Wenzel, C. W. Clump, L. Maus,
and L. B. Andersen
7. “Coulson and Richardson’s Chemical Engineering — Volume 1: Fluid Flow, Heat
Transfer and Mass Transfer” by J. M. Coulson, J. F. Richardson, J. R. Backhurst,
and J. H. Harker
8. “Coulson and Richardson’s Chemical Engineering — Volume 2: Particle
Technology & Separation Processes” by J. F. Richardson, J. H. Harker, and J. R.
Backhurst
 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 in order to minimize the
concentration difference within the system

 Transfer of one component from a higher concentration

region to a lower concentration region is called Mass-
Transfer

 Mass Transfer is one of the three main transfer processes;

other two are
 Heat Transfer
 Momentum Transfer
 For all transfer processes, there is a need of potential
difference. For mass transfer it is analogous to concentration
gradient

 Whenever there is concentration difference in a medium,

nature tends to equalize things by forcing a flow from the
high to the low concentration region

 Equilibrium is reached when the gradient is zero

Mass transfer may occur in a

 Gas mixture
 Liquid solution
 Solid

Mass transfer occurs whenever there is a gradient in the

concentration of species. The basic mechanisms are the same
whether the phase is a gas, liquid, or solid.
 Studies of heat transfer and mass transfer have more
common and similar approaches but a noticeable difference
between mass transfer and heat transfer are way of contact
like direct or indirect contact

 The phases exchanging mass through direct contact are

immiscible or partially miscible

 If phases are miscible, a selectively permeating barrier may

be placed between them to effect mass transfer without
physical mixing of phases like membrane gas separation
Examples
Daily life examples include:
 A lump of sugar added to a cup of tea eventually diffuse and dissolve
uniformly throughout the tea
 Solid dissolving in liquid. This process begins with the dissolution of
salt from the surface of each crystal into the neighboring liquid. The
salt in solution is then transported across the liquid by convection and
diffusion. Stir the liquid to hasten the process of mixing, as sugar to
coffee, leading eventually to a uniform solute concentration
everywhere

Before After
 Perfume presents a pleasant fragrance throughout the atmosphere
 Aquatic life uses oxygen dissolved in water for survival and supply of
oxygen mostly comes from air
The concentration of oxygen in natural water is less than what it
should be at saturation or at equilibrium. As a result oxygen gets
absorbed in the water of lakes, rivers and oceans.

The phenomenon of transport of oxygen from air to water is a mass

transfer process since it is caused by a concentration driving force.
 Liquid in open container evaporates into air because of the difference
in concentration of water vapor at the water surface and the
surrounding of air
Role of Separation Processes in a Chemical
Industry
Industrial examples include:
 Removal of SO2 from flue gas (Gas Absorption)
 Separation of ethyl-alcohol from alcohol-water mixture (Distillation)
 Extraction of uranium salt in solution by an organic solvent (liquid-
liquid extraction)
 Neutron diffusion within nuclear reactor
 Adsorption
 Crystallization
 Drying
 Membrane separation
 Humidification
 Stripping
Absorption/Stripping
 Absorption and stripping are two chemical process
operations that normally are coupled in order to remove a
minor component, the solute, from an incoming process gas
stream and then recover that same component in a more
concentrated form

 A carefully selected solvent, in which the solute is selectively

soluble, is fed to the absorber (or “scrubber”), and the rich
solvent is then fed to the stripper, where the solute is
recovered
Coupled absorption-stripping system

 Acetone is recovered from air using a water solvent. The

acetone–water solution is then stripped to provide high
purity acetone
Adsorption/Desorption

 The ability of transfer of mass from either a gas or a liquid to

the surface of a solid
 The adsorption is not a true inter-phase mass transfer
operation because the fluid adheres to the solid surface
instead of dissolving in the solid
 A desorption involves the transfer of mass from the solid
surface (adsorbents) to the gas or liquid medium
(adsorbates)
A few operations of practical applications are

1. Elimination of toxic gases and deodorization of air

2. Recovery of solvents
3. Removal of ions from solution as in demineralization of
water
4. Fractionation by selective adsorption of gases, vapors from
gases, vapors from vapors and liquids from liquids and
many other applications
Extraction
 Separation of the constituents of a liquid solution by contact
with another insoluble liquid

 The liquid which is added to the solution to bring about the

extraction is known as the solvent. The solution which is to
be extracted is called the feed
 The solvent-richen product of the operation is called the
extract and the residual liquid from which the solute is
separated is called the raffinate
Applications of extraction involve:

 The separation of aromatics from kerosene based fuel oils

 The production of fuels in the nuclear industry
 The separation of penicillin from fermentation mixtures
Leaching
A treatment of a finely divided solid with a liquid.

Some examples of leaching operations are,

1. Oilseed extraction
2. Extraction of sugar beets with hot water
3. Extraction of medicinal compounds from plant roots, leaves
and stems
Distillation
 An operation whereby a liquid mixture of
miscible and volatile substances is separated
into individual components or into group of
components by partial vaporization

Examples
 The separation of a mixture of methanol and
water into its components
 Separation of petroleum crude into gasoline,
kerosene, fuel oil and lubricating stock
Humidification
 In humidification, the enrichment of vapour content in a gas stream
takes place by passing the gas over a liquid
 The transfer of water from the liquid phase to the gas phase of a
mixture of air and water vapour is a widespread application of
humidification
Dehumidification
Dehumidification involves the transfer of water vapour from the gas
phase to the liquid phase. Removal of water vapour from air by
condensation of a cold surface.

Example
 Condensation of carbon tetrachloride out of a stream of nitrogen
 Air dehumidification
Types/Modes of mass transfer
a) Molecular mass transfer
b) Convective mass transfer

a) Molecular Mass Transfer

Mass transfer that results from the random velocities of the molecules
only i.e. in which mixing is solely due to the random motion of the
molecules is called molecular mass transfer or molecular diffusion.
This is a microscopic phenomena i.e. it occurs at the molecular level
analogous to heat conduction in case of heat transfer.
The diffusion of molecules occurs
 Whole bulk fluid is not moving but stationary
 Diffusion of molecules is due to a concentration
gradient

If there are greater number of A molecules near point

(1) than at (2), then since molecules diffuse randomly
in both direction, more A molecules will diffuse from
(1) to (2) than from (2) to (1). The net diffusion of A is
from high to low concentration regions.

Molecular diffusion or molecular transport can be

defined as the transfer or movement of individual
molecules through a fluid by means of the random,
individual movements of the molecules.
Types of Diffusion
 Thermal diffusion: Diffusion due to a temperature gradient.
Usually negligible unless the temperature gradient is very large

 Pressure diffusion: Diffusion due to a pressure gradient. Usually

negligible unless the pressure gradient is very large

 Forced diffusion: Diffusion due to external force field acting on a

molecule. Forced diffusion occurs when an electrical field is
imposed on an electrolyte (for example, in charging an
automobile battery)

 Knudsen diffusion: Diffusion phenomena occur in porous solids

b) Convective Mass Transfer
 The mass transfer resulted from the motion of the fluid itself
is called convective mass transfer
 In this, one portion of fluid is mixed with other portion of
fluid
 This is a macroscopic phenomena in which bulk transfer is
responsible for the mass transfer and it is analogous to heat
transfer by convection

 Convective mass transfer can further be classified as;

o Free or natural convection
o Forced convection
 If the fluid motion is due to density difference, which may
result from concentration or temperature gradient, the
process is called free or natural convection

 If on the other hand an external force like pump or similar

means cause the fluid motion then this is called forced
convection
 Rate of forced convection mass transfer are higher than rate of free
convection mass transfer
 Molecular mass transfer is a slower process than convective mass
transfer
 Mass is always transferred in molecular fashion in case of laminar
flow
 There is convective mass transfer in turbulent flow
 Convective mass transfer only increases the rate of mass transfer but
the process by which one component diffuses into other is still
molecular diffusion. It only saves time that could be required for a
component to travel from one point to the other, thus it increases the
velocity of the diffusing component by an amount equal to the
convective current i.e. add a coloring agent (KMnO4) to water with
and without stirrer
Definitions
a) Concentration
For a component “A” in a mixture of components, concentration is
defined as
“ amount of A per unit volume of mixture”

 Molar Concentration
 Mass Concentration
 Total Mass Concentration
 Total Molar Concentration