Chapter 6: Mass Transfer

Diffusion and other types of mass transfer

Fick’s law
Diffusion coefficient
General equation for molar flux
Diffusion in gases and liquids
Forced convection mass transfer
Sherwood, Schmidt and Reynolds number,
Analogies between momentum, heat and mass
transfers
Interphase equilibria, Interphase mass transfer,
Overall mass transfer coefficient.
 Mass Transfer (Problems)

Q. 14.47 A thin plastic membrane separates hydrogen

from air. The molar concentrations of hydrogen in the
membrane at the inner and outer surfaces are
determined to be 0.065 and 0.003 kmol/m 3, respectively.
The binary diffusion coefficient of hydrogen in plastic at
the operation temperature is 5.3 x 10 -10 m2/s. Determine
the mass flow rate of hydrogen by diffusion through the
membrane under steady conditions if the thickness
of the membrane is (a) 2 mm and (b) 0.5 mm.
 Mass Transfer (Problems)

N diff C A,1  C A,2

j diff  D AB
A L Plastic
membran
 10 2 (0.065  0.003) kmol/m 3 H2 Air
e
(5.310 m /s )
210  3 m mdiff
L
1.64 10  8 kmol/m 2 .s

m diff M j diff (2 kg/kmol )(1.64 10  8 kmol/m 2 .s )

3.2910  8 kg/m 2 .s

N diff C A,1  C A,2

j diff  D AB
A L
3
( 0.065  0.003 ) kmol/m
(5.310  10 m 2 /s )
0.510  3 m
6.5710  8 kmol/m 2 .s

m diff M j diff (2 kg/kmol )(6.57 10  8 kmol/m 2 .s) 1.3110  7 kg/m 2 .s
 Mass Transfer (Problems)

14–53 Pure N2 gas at 1 atm and 25°C is flowing through

a 10-m-long, 3-cm-inner diameter pipe made of 1-mm-
thick rubber. Determine the rate at which N 2 leaks out of
the pipe if the medium surrounding the pipe is (a) a
vacuum and (b) atmospheric air at 1 atm and 25°C with
21 percent O2 and 79 percent N2.
Vacuum

N2 diffusion

N2 gas

1 atm

25C

Rubber
pipe
 Mass Transfer (Problems)

The diffusivity and solubility of nitrogen in rubber at

25C are 1.5×10-10 m2/s and 0.00156 9 kmol/m3.bar,
respectively (Tables 14-3 and 14-7).

PN 2  y N 2 P ( 0.79 )(100 kPa ) 79 kPa = 0.79 bar

PO 2  yO 2 P ( 0.21)(100 kPa ) 21 kPa = 0.21 bar

When solubility data is available, the molar flow rate
of a gas through a solid can be determined by
replacing the molar concentration by

CA, solid side (0) SAB PA, gas side (0)

 Mass Transfer (Problems)

 PA ,1  PA ,2
N diff, A,cyl 2LDABS AB
ln( r2 / r1 )

(1-0)
N diff,A,cyl 2 (10 )(1.5 10 10 )(0.00156 )
ln(0.031/0.03)
4.483 10 10 kmol/s

(1  0.79) bar
N diff,A,cyl 2 (10 )(1.5 10 10 )(0.00156)
ln(0.031/0.03)
9.416 10 11 kmol/s
 Mass Transfer

• So far, we have restricted our attention to heat

transfer problems that did not involve any mass
transfer.
• There are many significant heat transfer
problems encountered in practice involve mass
transfer.
• For example, about one-third of the heat loss
from a resting person is due to evaporation.
• It turns out that mass transfer is analogous to
heat transfer in many respects
• There is close resemblance between heat and
mass transfer relations.
When a system contains two or more components
whose concentration vary from pt to pt there is a natural
tendency for mass to be transferred, minimizing the
concentration difference within the system. The transport
of one constituent from a region of higher concentration
to that of lower concentration is called mass transfer.
 Mass Transfer
 Requires the presence of two regions at different
chemical compositions

 Refers to the movement of a chemical species from a

high concentration region toward a lower concentration
one relative to the other chemical species present in the
medium.

 The primary driving force for fluid flow is the pressure

difference, whereas for mass transfer it is the
concentration difference.
 Mass Transfer

Whenever there is concentration difference of a physical

quantity in a medium, nature tends to equalize things by
forcing a flow from the high to the low concentration
region.
 Mass Transfer
 Concentration is defined as the amount of a
commodity per unit volume.

 The flow of a commodity is always in the direction of

decreasing concentration; that is, from the region of high
concentration to the region of low concentration

The rate of flow of the commodity is proportional to the

concentration gradient dC/dx

area A normal to flow direction and is expressed as

Flow rate  (Normal area)(Concentration gradient)

 Mass Transfer

Where the proportionality constant kdiff is the diffusion

coefficient of the medium, which is a measure of how
fast a commodity diffuses in the medium, and the
negative sign is to make the flow in the positive direction
a positive quantity (note that dC/dx is a negative quantity
since concentration decreases in the flow direction).

Compare it with Fourier’s law of heat conduction,

 Mass Transfer

A tank that contains N2

and air in its two
compartments, and the
diffusion of N2 into the air
when the partition
is removed.
 ANALOGY BETWEEN
HEAT AND MASS TRANSFER
The driving force for heat
transfer is the temperature
difference.
The driving force for mass
transfer is the concentration
difference.
Heat is transferred by
conduction, convection, and
radiation.
Mass is transferred by
conduction (called diffusion)
and convection only.
 ANALOGY BETWEEN
HEAT AND MASS TRANSFER

Unlike heat radiation, there is no such

thing as mass radiation.
 ANALOGY BETWEEN
HEAT AND MASS TRANSFER
 ANALOGY BETWEEN
HEAT AND MASS TRANSFER

Fourier’s law of heat conduction

The rate of mass diffusion mdiff of a chemical species A
in a stationary medium in the direction x is proportional
to the concentration gradient dC/dx in that direction and
is expressed by Fick’s law of diffusion

where DAB is the diffusion coefficient (or mass

diffusivity) of the species in the mixture and CA is the
concentration of the species in the mixture at that
location.
 ANALOGY BETWEEN
HEAT AND MASS TRANSFER

Heat generation occurs throughout the medium

and exhibits itself as a rise in temperature.

Similarly, some mass transfer problems involve

chemical reactions that occur within the medium
and result in the generation of a species
throughout.
 ANALOGY BETWEEN
HEAT AND MASS TRANSFER
Heat convection is the heat transfer mechanism that
involves both heat conduction (molecular diffusion) and
bulk fluid motion.

Mass convection (or convective mass transfer) is the

mass transfer mechanism between a surface and a
moving fluid that involves both mass diffusion
and bulk fluid motion.
 ANALOGY BETWEEN
HEAT AND MASS TRANSFER
 MASS DIFFUSION
Fick’s law of diffusion, proposed in
1855, states that the rate of diffusion
of a chemical species at a location in
a gas mixture (or liquid or solid
solution) is proportional to the
concentration gradient of that
species at that location.
Although a higher concentration for a
species means more molecules of
that species per unit volume, the
concentration of a species can be
expressed in several ways.
 MASS Basis
1 Mass Basis
On a mass basis, concentration is expressed in terms of
density (or mass concentration), which is mass per unit
volume.
Considering a small volume V at a location within the
mixture, the densities of a species (subscript i) and of
the mixture (no subscript) at that location are given by
 MASS Fraction
Mass concentration can also be expressed in
dimensionless form in terms of mass fraction w as

The mass fraction of a species ranges between 0 and 1,

and the conservation of mass requires that the sum of
the mass fractions of the constituents
of a mixture be equal to 1. That is, wi = 1.
 2 Mole Basis
On a mole basis, concentration is expressed in terms of
molar concentration (or molar density), which is the
amount of matter in kmol per unit volume.
Again considering a small volume V at a location within
the mixture, the molar concentrations of a species
(subscript i) and of the mixture (no subscript)
at that location are given by
 2 Mole Basis
The molar concentration of a mixture at a location is
equal to the sum of the molar concentrations of its
constituents at that location. Molar concentration can
also be expressed in dimensionless form in terms of
mole fraction y as

The mole fraction of a species ranges between 0 and 1,

and the sum of the mole fractions of the constituents of a
mixture is unity, yi = 1.
 2 Mole Basis
The mass and molar concentrations are related by

where

The mass and mole fractions of species i of a mixture

are related to each other by
Analogy between Fourier’s law of heat conduction and
Fick’s law of mass diffusion.
 Types of Diffusion

The primary driving mechanism of mass diffusion is the

concentration gradient, and mass diffusion due to a
concentration gradient is known as the ordinary
diffusion.

Diffusion caused by temperature gradients in a medium

is known as thermal diffusion (also called the soret
effect)

Diffusion caused by pressure gradients is called

pressure diffusion.
 Types of Diffusion

An external force field such as an electric or magnetic

field applied on a mixture or solution can be used
successfully to separate electrically charged or
magnetized molecules (as in an electrolyte or ionized
gas) from the mixture. This is called forced diffusion.

When the pores of a porous solid such as silica-gel are

smaller than the mean free path of the gas molecules,
the molecular collisions may be negligible and a free
molecule flow may be initiated. This is known as
Knudsen diffusion.
 Types of Diffusion

When the size of the gas molecules is comparable to the

pore size, adsorbed molecules move along the pore
walls. This is known as surface diffusion.

Particles whose diameter is under 0.1 m such as

mist and soot particles act like large molecules, and the
diffusion process of such particles due to the
concentration gradient is called Brownian motion.
 Determining Mass Fractions from Mole Fractions

The composition of dry standard atmosphere

is given on a molar basis to be 78.1 percent
N2, 20.9 percent O2, and 1.0 percent Ar and
other constituents. Treating other onstituents
as Ar, determine the mass fractions of the
constituents of air.
Determining Mass Fractions from Mole Fractions
 BOUNDARY CONDITIONS

Unlike temperature, the

concentration of species
on the two sides of a
liquid–gas (or solid–gas
or solid–liquid) interface
are usually not the
same.

Temperature is necessarily a continuous function,

but concentration, in general, is not.
 BOUNDARY CONDITIONS
When specifying a boundary condition, specifying the
location is not enough.
For example, the water (liquid or vapor) concentration at
the liquid and gas sides of a water–air interface at
x = 0 can be expressed on a molar basis is
 BOUNDARY CONDITIONS

where ¯j A, 0 and j A, 0 are the

specified mole and mass
fluxes of species A at the
boundary, respectively. The
special case of zero mass
flux (¯j A, 0 = j A, 0 = 0)
corresponds to an
impermeable surface for which dyA(0)/dx dwA (0)/
dx = 0
 Mole Fraction of Water Vapor
at the Surface of a Lake
Determine the mole fraction
of the water vapor at the
surface of a lake whose
temperature is 15°C and
compare it to the mole
fraction of water in the lake.
Take the atmospheric
pressure at lake level to be
92 kPa.
Mole Fraction of Water Vapor
at the Surface of a Lake
 STEADY MASS DIFFUSION THROUGH A WALL
Consider a solid plane wall
(medium B) of area A,
thickness L, and
density . The wall is
subjected on both sides to
different concentrations of a
species A to which it is
permeable. The boundary
surfaces at x = 0 and x = L
are located within the solid
adjacent to the interfaces,
and the mass fractions
of A at those surfaces are
 STEADY MASS DIFFUSION THROUGH A WALL
maintained at w A, 1 and w A, 2, respectively, at all times.
The mass fraction of species A in the wall will vary in the
x-direction only and can be expressed as w A (x)
Therefore, mass transfer through the wall in this case
can be modeled as steady and one-dimensional.
Here we determine the rate of mass diffusion of species
A through the wall.
From the conservation of mass principle for species A
can be expressed as the mass flow rate of species A
through the wall at any cross section is the same. That is
 STEADY MASS DIFFUSION THROUGH A WALL

where the mass transfer rate m diff, A and the wall area A
are taken out of the integral sign since both are
constants. If the density and the mass diffusion
coefficient DAB vary little along the wall, they can be
assumed to be constant.
 STEADY MASS DIFFUSION THROUGH A WALL

The rate of mass diffusion through a plane wall is

proportional to the average density, the wall area, and
the concentration difference across the wall, but is
inversely proportional to the wall thickness.
Analogy between thermal, electrical, and mass
diffusion resistance concepts.
One-dimensional mass diffusion through
a cylindrical or spherical shell
 Diffusion of Hydrogen through a
Spherical Container
Pressurized hydrogen gas
is stored at 358 K in a 4.8-
m-outer-diameter spherical
container made of nickel.
The shell of the container is
6 cm thick. The molar
concentration of hydrogen
in the nickel at the inner
surface is determined to be
0.087 kmol/m3. The
concentration of hydrogen in the nickel at the outer
surface is negligible. Determine the mass flow rate of
hydrogen by diffusion through the nickel container.
 Diffusion of Hydrogen through a
Spherical Container
SOLUTION Pressurized hydrogen gas is stored in a
spherical container. The diffusion rate of hydrogen
through the container is to be determined.
Assumptions
1 Mass diffusion is steady and one-dimensional
2 There are no chemical reactions in the nickel shell that
result in the generation or depletion of hydrogen.
Diffusion of Hydrogen through a
Spherical Container
Diffusion of Hydrogen through a
Spherical Container
 MASS CONVECTION
Mass convection is the transfer of mass between a
surface and a moving fluid due to both mass diffusion
and bulk fluid motion.

Fluid motion enhances mass transfer considerably by

removing the high-concentration fluid near the surface
and replacing it by the lower concentration fluid further
away.

In the limiting case of no bulk fluid motion, mass

convection reduces to mass diffusion, just as convection
reduces to conduction.
 MASS CONVECTION
Like heat convection, mass convection depends on
surface geometry, flow regime, flow velocity, and the
variation of the fluid properties and composition.

Mass convection is usually analyzed on a mass basis

rather than on a molar basis.
 MASS CONVECTION
Concentration boundary
layer is defined as the region
of the fluid in which
concentration gradients exist.
In external flow, the
thickness of the concentration boundary layer c for a
species A at a specified location on the surface is
defined as the normal distance y from the surface at
which

where A, s and A, are the densities of species A at the

surface (on the fluid side) and the free stream,
respectively.
 MASS CONVECTION
In internal flow, the region
where the concentration
profile develops is called
concentration entrance
region. The concentration
boundary layer continues to
develop in the flow direction
until its thickness reaches the tube center and
the boundary layers merge. The distance from the tube
inlet to the location where this merging occurs is called
the concentration entry length Lc, and the region
beyond that point is called the fully developed region,
which is characterized by
 MASS CONVECTION

where A, b is the bulk mean density of species A defined as

Prandtl number:

Schmidt number:
 MASS CONVECTION
 The relative growth of the velocity and thermal
boundary layers in laminar flow is governed by the
Prandtl number

 The relative growth of the velocity and concentration

boundary layers is governed by the Schmidt number.

 A Prandtl number of near unity (Pr  1) indicates that

momentum and heat transfer by diffusion are
comparable, and velocity and thermal boundary
layers almost coincide with each other.
 MASS CONVECTION
 A Schmidt number of near unity (Sc  1) indicates
that momentum and mass transfer by diffusion are
comparable, and velocity and concentration boundary
layers almost coincide with each other.

Lewis number:

Relative thicknesses of velocity, thermal, and concentration

boundary layers in laminar flow are expressed as

where n=1/3 for most applications.

 MASS CONVECTION

Nusselt number:

Sherwood number:

Heat transfer Stanton number:

Mass transfer Stanton number:

Analogy between the
quantities that appear in
the formulation and
solution of heat
convection and mass
convection
 Analogy between Friction, Heat Transfer,
and Mass Transfer Coefficients

Wall friction:

Heat transfer:
Mass transfer:
 Mass Convection inside a Circular Pipe

Consider a circular pipe of inner diameter D = 0.015 m

whose inner surface is covered with a layer of liquid
water as a result of condensation. In order to dry the
pipe, air at 300 K and 1 atm is forced to flow through it
with an average velocity of 1.2 m/s. Using the analogy
between heat and mass transfer, determine the mass
transfer coefficient inside the pipe for fully developed
flow.
Mass Convection inside a Circular Pipe
Mass Convection inside a Circular Pipe
 Assignment 6

14.25C, 14.37, 14.39, 14.41, 14.42, 14.46, 14.53